Oval Invincibles made it two from two in The Hundred, beating the Welsh Fire by 10 runs in an exciting encounter at Cardiff.
Although they only posted 113-9, the Invincibles’ stellar bowling unit tore through the Fire, with the hosts never looking like chasing down the modest target.
Leg-spinners Nathan Sowter (2-12) and Adam Zampa (3-24) starred for the defending champions, with the latter picking up his second Meerkat Match Hero award in as many games.
Asked to bat by Welsh Fire captain Tom Abell, the Invincibles lost Dawid Malan almost immediately as he flicked David Willey to midwicket.
Will Jacks and Tawanda Muyeye responded well in the powerplay, but the Welsh Fire’s talented seam attack stuck to their task.
Jacks fell victim to Josh Little, finding the hands of Mason Crane on the long square leg boundary (25 from 15), and Jake Ball and Willey removed Sam Billings and Muyeye respectively to leave the Invincibles struggling at 58-4 at the halfway mark.
Donovan Ferreira (30) and Sam Curran (20) provided some resistance in the face of the Fire onslaught, but the Invincibles never really got going, with wickets continuing to fall at regular intervals, and Ball ending as the pick of the bowlers taking 3-24.
Defending 113 was always going to be a tough ask for the Invincibles, and it was made all the more so when Jonny Bairstow was dropped on four by Harrison Ward off the bowling of Saqib Mahmood. Fortunately for Ward, Australian Spencer Johnson cleaned him up a couple of balls later.
After Curran bowled Joe Clarke with the first ball of his spell, the Invincibles spinners came to the fore. Zampa continued his good form for the Invincibles, picking up the wickets of Abell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (22 from 33) and Willey, while Sowter removed Glenn Phillips and Luke Wells.
Some lusty hitting from David Payne (28 from 15) and Mason Crane took the game to the final few balls, but Curran held his nerve to secure the win.
Player of the match – Adam Zampa
“It was important to start well. We needed some early wickets to get momentum going into the middle overs and the way that Spencer (Johnson) and Saqy (Mahmood) bowled was superb. It was really exciting to watch from mid-off.
“Me and Sowts (Sowter) have to play different roles throughout and me bowling more towards the back end with the run rate going up is when I can get into my work.”
“There wasn’t much pace in the wicket, there was a bit of spin if you gave it some. It was hard to score on it throughout the game.”
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The Hundred is back for 2024 with every game live on Sky Sports between July 23 and August 18.
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Monday as Manchester Originals face Trent Rockets at Old Trafford.
The women’s match (2.55pm on air, 3pm first ball) is live on Sky Sports Mix and via a free live stream on skysports.com, the Sky Sports app and on the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
The men’s game starts at 6.30pm with build-up beginning at 6pm on Sky Sports Mix. There will also be coverage on Sky Sports Cricket from around 6.30pm.
Sky Sports will show all 68 games in The Hundred live, while you can also watch selected matches via free streams on Sky Sports’ digital platforms and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.