James Vince inspires Southern Brave victory over Welsh Fire as they top Hundred table

Southern Brave made it three wins from four in The Hundred this year by thrashing Welsh Fire by 42 runs at Sophia Gardens.

Captain James Vince’s match-winning unbeaten 73 from 50 balls in the first innings set Fire 140 to win and the home side never threatened to reach the target – leaving Brave ending the night on top of the table in the men’s competition.

The hosts had won the toss and elected to field first, but the Brave batters worked well in partnerships with Alex Davies, Leus Du Plooy and Kieron Pollard all supporting the in-form Vince’s knock, which included seven fours and three maximums.

A Chris Jordan cameo in the final 10 balls featured a 98-metre six, before he fell to the last ball, skying David Payne and being well caught by David Willey.

Haris Rauf (two for 22) and Matt Henry (one for 20) were the standout bowlers for Welsh Fire, with the home side hoping conditions under the lights might favour a big chase.

Swing

In reply though, Luke Wells and Jonny Bairstow struggled to get opening bowlers Akeal Hosein and Craig Overton away, with just 29 scored from the first 30 balls as the bowlers made life difficult with significant swing.

Both opening batters then fell in quick succession as the the visitors took control, with Tymal Mills impressing with figures of four for 16.

Danny Briggs (three for 14) and Chris Jordan (two for 19) helped run through the Welsh Fire batting order to seal a very comfortable victory with five balls remaining.

Meerkat Match Hero Vince praised the Brave bowlers for getting the job done, saying: “It was nice to get the win.

“I think, batting first, we found it quite tricky but at halfway you never quite know until both sides have batted.

“The way we bowled throughout, but particularly up front, was fantastic and proved it was reasonably tough out there.

“Our bowlers have dovetailed really well – Akeal and Craig with the new ball and then CJ and Tymal through the back end – they’ve done it so many times and we are in nice rhythm at the minute.

“The bowlers have been fantastic and I think the batters did a good job on that pitch as well.”