The Hundred: Liam Livingstone smashes 10 sixes to fire Birmingham Phoenix into Lord's final
Birmingham Phoenix reach The Hundred final at Lord's on Saturday with an eight-wicket hammering of Northern Superchargers; set 144 to win, Liam Livingstone smashed a massive 10 sixes in a match-inning, unbeaten 92 off 40 balls
Wednesday 18 August 2021 09:10, UK
Liam Livingstone smashed the fastest-ever fifty of The Hundred as Birmingham Phoenix romped to victory over Northern Supercharges and secured their place in the final at Lord's on Saturday.
STORY OF THE MATCH
Livingstone, returning to Headingley where he hit an astonishing six out of the ground for England earlier in the summer, this time cleared the rope a staggering 10 times.
Set 144 to win to clinch a final spot, the Phoenix captain smashed an unbeaten 92 off just 40 balls to see the visitors to victory with a massive 26 balls to spare.
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Earlier, tournament star, 19-year-old Will Smeed, fell first ball for the Phoenix - chopping a David Willey delivery onto his stumps - but that succeeded only in bringing Livingstone to the crease sooner, and he and Finn Allen (42 off 26) swiftly had Birmingham ahead of the rate and coasting towards the final.
After being sent into bat first, the Superchargers themselves had seemed on course to post a mammoth score - Tom Kohler-Cadmore cracking four fours and five sixes in his 44-ball 71 at the top of the order.
The home side at one stage were 104-2 after 60 deliveries, but added only 39 for the loss of six more wickets from the final 40 - in the face of some fine death bowling.
MATCH HERO
Livingstone. Obviously. Who else?
Kohler-Cadmore was impressive early on, sharing in a 95-run partnership for the first wicket with Chris Lynn (34 off 25), but Livingstone blew his knock out of the water - while also pitching in with three wickets for 25 runs, including that of Lynn's, from his 20 balls of spin.
Benny Howell (2-18) and then Adam Milne (2-24) at the death were also terrific for the Phoenix as they helped restrict the Superchargers to a below-par score on a superb batting track.
WHAT THEY SAID
Phoenix captain, Liam Livingstone: "That was good fun. You play franchise cricket to get to finals.
"First job done. It's all about enjoying Saturday now.
"Headingley has been a good ground for me. To be fair, it's one of the best places to bat in the country. I've enjoyed batting here over the last couple of years."
Superchargers batter, Kohler-Cadmore: ""Learning from it, Livingstone just hit with the breeze all the time whereas we aimed a bit straight.
"Losing a couple of wickets, I felt I needed to try and take it a bit deeper but I lost momentum. I felt that's where we lost it. We lost a clump of wickets after 50 balls and couldn't get to 160 plus.
"But the way Livingstone played was outstanding. No matter what we'd have scored, they'd have chased it down with him batting like that."
WHAT'S NEXT?
It is the final round of group matches in The Hundred - with Welsh Fire facing off with London Spirit in Cardiff.
The Hundred Live
The Hundred Live
The knockout spots are pretty much already confirmed, with only the Spirit women standing a chance of sneaking in if they pull off a massive win over the Fire. But, there's still plenty of pride to play for!
We're live on Sky Sports The Hundred Main Event and Mix at 2.30pm for a 3pm start, followed by the men's clash at 6.30pm. The women's game is also available via a live stream on the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
Watch The Hundred live on Sky Sports between now and August 21.
