The Hundred Men’s 2022 Match 30 Review: Birmingham Phoenix pull off final ball thriller against London Spirit

From the verges of defeat, Birmingham Pheonix pulled off a thriller and won the game by just one wicket against London Spirit at the Lords in Match 30 of The Hundred Men’s 2022 edition. With the victory, the Birmingham Pheonix and London Spirit are tied at 10 points now but the London Spirit have a better net run rate to take the second position.

Earlier in the game, Birmingham Pheonix opted to bowl first after winning the toss and Adam Rossington was removed early for just 6 runs. Zak Crawley and Ben McDermott stitched a useful partnership however, the former’s strike rate was baffling as he struggled to get going. McDermott’s 36 off 29 balls did help the scoring rate while Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara stitched a 50-run partnership for the fifth wicket. 

Bopara’s blistering innings of 45 off just 20 balls which included five fours and two sixes ensured that the London Spirit got to a competitive total in the end. Liam Dawson hit a six of his very first ball as the total moved up to 139 for 6 from nowhere. Tom Helm was the pick of the bowlers for the Birmingham Pheonix with 4 for 17 in his 20 balls. 

Matthew Wade’s stupendous knock turns the game around

In reply, the Birmingham Pheonix suffered a disastrous start with both openers Will Smeed and Soloman Budinger falling prey to Liam Dawson in just the first four balls. While Matthew Wade kept finding the boundaries from one end, wickets fell continuously on the other end. At 95 for 7, Wade was the only hope for the Birmingham side while the incoming batters failed to register double figures. 

The Australian wicketkeeper0batter played a gem of a knock and reached his half-century in the process. However, Wade was removed after a 42 ball-81 run knock that comprised of 11 fours and two sixes, and Birmingham still needed 22 to win which looked like a hefty task. However, Helm and Tanveer Sangha held their nerves and got the side through with 2 needed off the last ball.