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Hundred Men’s Competition, Edgbaston
Birmingham Phoenix 214-4 (100 balls): Clarke 68 (33); Harrison 2-27
Trent Rocket 204-7 (100 balls): Banton 67 (32); Date 2-36
Birmingham Phoenix won by 10 runs
Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets ended this year’s century drought with a high-scoring contest at Edgbaston, which the home side lost by 10 runs.
Phoenix posted 214-4 – the second-highest score in tournament history behind the Oval Invincibles’ 226-4 last year – and with the Rockets’ reply of 204-7, it was the first time it had passed 400 in a game.
Hitting 29 sixes across both innings is also a century record.
Joe Clarke and Will Schmidt both scored fifties in a flying start for Phoenix as the pair added 104 runs off just 49 balls for the first wicket.
Rehan Ahmed and Donovan Ferreira made sure the brilliant start was not in vain, after Clarke hit 68 off 33 balls and Schmid 51 off 28 balls.
The pair put on 63 off just 22 balls for the third wicket, with Ahmed hitting five sixes in his 25-ball 48 and Ferreira adding a valuable cameo with an unbeaten 22 off just nine balls.
In reply, the Rockets got off to a positive start as openers Finn Allen and Ben Duckett added 65 off 29 balls but the chase began when the pair fell for 43 and 49 respectively.
Tom Banton’s 26-ball fifty kept the Rockets’ hopes alive, but pacer Scott Curry held his nerve at the death and 29 from the last seven balls was not needed and Phoenix sealed the win.
On a tough night for the bowlers, rocket spinner Calvin Harrison’s figures of 2-27 were an outlier.
Phoenix’s innings was the sixth time it has crossed 200 in the tournament and has injected some much-needed life into this year’s edition after a relatively low-scoring run – the previous highest total was just 144.
The match also allayed concerns about the quality of the pitch after the Phoenix women Bowled out for 64 runs against the previous day.
