The Hundred: Southern Brave cruise to nine-wicket win over Birmingham Phoenix as Jofra Archer makes mark, Trent Rockets continue flawless start

Southern Brave cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred at Utilita Bowl on Sunday as Jofra Archer made his mark.

Brave won the toss and chose to bowl, which looked to be a good decision early on as Phoenix struggled to get the ball away and score freely.

Facing 90mph bowling from Archer, who was sporting a Brave bucket-hat when not charging in, Joe Clarke was the only Birmingham batter to offer some resistance with 36 from 27 balls.

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Archer finished with 2-16 from his 20, with Michael Bracewell taking the starring role with his off spin on a tricky pitch claiming 3-16 from 15 balls as Phoenix finished on a below-par 106-7.

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Southern Brave opened with the right-hand, left-hand combination of James Vince (41 off 30) and Leus Du Plooy (32 off 28) and the pair rarely looked troubled, rotating the strike and picking up boundaries.

Although Brave finished the powerplay on the same score as Phoenix, they had the time to build through their innings, which Vince capitalised on and passed the milestone of 1,000 runs in The Hundred in the process - the third player to do so already this season after Nat Sciver-Brunt and Phil Salt.

When Vince was caught behind for 41 only 32 runs were needed, and Du Plooy and Jason Roy (18 off 12) chased them down with 19 balls remaining as Brave cruised to a second win of the campaign.

Rockets continue flawless start to campaign

Trent Rockets beat Northern Superchargers by five wickets at Trent Bridge to continue their 100 per cent start to The Hundred this season.

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In front of their home fans at Trent Bridge for the first time this campaign, Rockets - who beat Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston on Friday - restricted Andrew Flintoff's Superchargers to 128-9 from their 100 balls and won by five wickets with relative lack of alarm, though Superchargers did well to take the game deep.

Runs were perhaps expected given the weather and the manner in which Superchargers women's team batted in the day's first game, but on a dry surface the ball gripped and few batters seemed able to bat with much freedom. That meant the Rockets never ran away with the chase but they had enough to see it home with four balls to spare.

With the ball, spinners Akeal Hosein (2-28) and Rehan Ahmed (2-23) took two wickets apiece for the hosts and never allowed the Superchargers to get going, though it was Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis (2-0) who broke the most crucial partnership, that of top-scorer Harry Brook (45 off 30) and Graham Clarke (36 off 22), who put on 56. Stoinis would go on to take two wickets in two balls, and conceded no runs from his five balls.

It was a similar tale when it was time for Superchargers to defend, with Imad Wasim taking two wickets in two balls, and three overall, and Adil Rashid (2-18) giving next to nothing away alongside two scalps, but Stoinis and Adam Hose scrambled Trent Rockets home with four balls remaining in front of 13,497 happy home fans.

How do matches work?

• One hundred balls a side, the team with the most runs wins. It is as simple as that.
• Five bowlers can bowl up to 20 balls in an innings, including five or 10 in a row.
• The traditional six-ball overs seen in other forms of cricket are not used in The Hundred, with 10 balls bowled before a change of ends.
• The powerplay is for the first 25 balls of an innings, with only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
• A 25-ball-a-side game is the minimum length that can be played in the event of wet weather.

Watch every match across the women's and men's competitions live on Sky Sports from August 5-31.