Table toppers Trent Rockets beat rock bottom Welsh Fire at Trent Bridge; hosts wrap up top-three spot as toiling visitors slump to eighth defeat out of eight to end season with zero points; Dawid Malan hits fourth fifty of the season for flying Rockets
Tuesday 30 August 2022 13:02, UK
Top trounced bottom in The Hundred as Trent Rockets secured a top-three spot and Welsh Fire tumbled to an eighth straight defeat...
The two sides could barely have had more contrasting seasons. For Rockets, it is six wins out of eight and qualification for the knockout stages later this week. For Fire, it is zero points and an early exit.
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Rockets slammed 172-4 from their 100 balls - Dawid Malan top-scoring with 58 from 37 deliveries - before Fire made 143-6 in reply as Matt Critchley hit 55 not out from 35 balls.
Spinners Tabraiz Shamsi (2-12 off 20 balls) and Samit Patel (2-23 off 20 balls) plus seamer Sam Cook (2-36 from 20 balls) shared six wickets in a 29-run victory for the home side.
Rockets will qualify directly for the final as table toppers if London Spirit do not beat Birmingham Phoenix on Tuesday evening or if Spirit do win but fail to take their net run-rate above Rockets'.
Fire are the first side to lose all their matches in a single Hundred campaign. They were hit by the withdrawal of Jonny Bairstow on the eve of the tournament as he focussed on resting ahead of England's Test series against South Africa and in his absence they have floundered with the bat.
Rockets, though, have flourished, with the runs of Malan (a tournament-leading 358 in eight innings) and Alex Hales (251 in eight knocks) crucial.
Against Fire, Malan hit his fourth fifty of the season and Hales 38 from 29 balls - the pair sharing an opening stand of 89 from 58 balls, during which Hales shrugged off being struck in the ribs by George Scrimshaw.
Daniel Sams (31 off 14) and Colin Munro (22no off 11) played boundary-laden cameos, with Munro's six caught in the crowd by an alert fan.
In reply, Fire's batting troubles came to light again as wickets tumbled - Tom Banton (9), Joe Clarke (15) and David Miller (5) once again failing to make scores of substance, leaving Ben Duckett to chip with 25 and Critchley to notch just the second fifty by a Fire batter this term.
The Rockets batter said: "You want to contribute to winning games. It's pointless scoring runs and not winning so if I can keep contributing to winning games that's the goal.
"The point of the group stages is to get to the last three and hopefully we get straight through to the final and get ourselves a day off.
"We have a good bunch of guys, everyone knows each other, it's a similar squad to last year with a lot of the Nottinghamshire boys.It's going really well and when you win it creates a good environment."
Darren Gough told Sky Sports: "Malan is so elegant to watch. He can clip the ball over midwicket but his other shot is that cover drive.
"When he's playing well and his feet are moving, there is no better sight than a Malan cover drive."
The play-off battle continues at Lord's on Tuesday as London Spirit host Birmingham Phoenix (6pm on Sky Sports The Hundred ahead of a 6.30pm start). Spirit will qualify for the top three if they win, while 2021 runners-up Phoenix need victory to keep their dwindling hopes alive.
Earlier in the day in the women's competition, the equation is simple for Phoenix. They will secure a top-three spot if they beat or tie with Spirit.
In some pre-game fun, Simon Doull and Dominic Cork looked at a potential squad for Fire in 2023, with both wanting an influx of Glamorgan cricketers next term. None of Fire's 2022 squad are current Glamorgan players.
Doull said: "I think it needs a complete reshuffle. They don't have any Glamorgan players. Where is their identity? All the other franchises have an identity with players fans already know. You cannot tell me Glamorgan don't have players good enough for The Hundred."
Watch every match from The Hundred this summer live on Sky Sports.
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