Root powers Fire back to winning ways

Joe Root's unbeaten half-century and a brisk opening stand with Phil Salt helped Welsh Fire return to winning ways with a comfortable chase of 138, condemning Birmingham Phoenix to a third successive defeat in this season of Men’s Hundred.

Earlier, Joe Clarke's 35 and Donovan Ferreira's 23 were the only notable contributions as Phoenix stumbled to 137 after opting to bat. Welsh Fire's disciplined attack, led by Lockie Ferguson's 2 for 20, also benefited from two run-outs to ensure the hosts never built the platform needed on a good batting surface.

The hosts made a change at the top, promoting Mitchell Owen to partner Will Smeed, but the experiment failed to produce the desired results. Chris Woakes removed Smeed for 5 before Owen briefly counterattacked with a couple of boundaries. Clarke then injected momentum, taking 20 runs off a Sam Cook set that included four fours and a six, while Rehan Ahmed chipped in with a six off Marco Jansen to lift Phoenix to 49 after 50 balls.

Welsh Fire tightened the screws thereafter. Jansen struck with his first delivery to dismiss Owen for 18, before Lockie Ferguson produced the moment of the innings when Jordan Cox completed a stunning relay catch on the boundary to remove Clarke for 35. Ferguson's pressure also led to a mix-up that ended with Laurie Evans being run out, and another communication error between Donovan Ferreira and Rehan Ahmed resulted in a second run-out as Phoenix slipped to 79 for 5.

Ferreira briefly threatened to revive the innings by launching Rachin Ravindra for consecutive sixes, but the left-arm spinner had the last laugh when Kohler-Cadmore pouched a simple catch at backward point. Sean Dickson and Scott Currie added some late runs, with Currie striking a six and two fours, but Ferguson returned to remove Dickson while Jansen and Cook cleaned up the tail. Ferguson finished with 2 for 20, Jansen claimed 2 for 281 and every Fire bowler picked up at least one wicket as Phoenix were restricted to 137.

The chase began confidently despite Saqib Mahmood almost dismissing Salt in the opening set, only for a marginal no-ball to give the opener a reprieve. Salt capitalised with four sixes, while Root settled quickly with a flurry of boundaries as the pair steadily pulled Fire ahead of the required rate. Salt's 46 ended when Mitchell Owen trapped him lbw after a successful review, but by then the visitors were firmly in control.

Root continued untroubled, reaching his fourth fifty in the Hundred with a crisp cut through point, while Jordan Cox ensured there would be no late drama with an aggressive 20 from 14 balls. Mahmood bowled Cox late in the chase, but Root finished things off in style, reverse-sweeping for four to bring the scores level before steering the winning single to seal victory with five balls to spare.

Brief Scores: Birmingham Phoenix 137/9 in 100 balls (Joe Clarke 35; Lockie Ferguson 2-20, Marco Jansen 2-21) lost to Welsh Fire 138/3 in 95 balls (Joe Root 58*, Phil Salt 46; Chris Wood 1-21) by 7 wickets