Chris Green‘s all-round display with both bat and ball were in full display as that allowed Welsh Fire dispose off Manchester Originals by 25 runs and register their first win in Hundred 2025. Chris Green was a determined person as he first scored 19 off 9 balls alongside contributions from other players as Welsh Fire notched up 137/8 in 100 balls at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
Coming to defend the total, Chris Green picked up 3/19 in 20 balls and complimented the new ball bowlers really well as Riley Meredith picked up 4/9 in 17 balls while David Payne picked up 3/14 in 20 balls to skittle Manchester Originals out for 112 in 97 balls. The Fire held off a magnificent half-century from Jos Buttler to win the game and climb upwards in the points table.
Josh Tongue, Scott Currie’s 3-wickets apiece restricts Welsh Fire to 137/8
Put into bat first, Steve Smith and Jonny Bairstow came out to open the batting for Welsh Fire while Sonny Baker had ball in hand for Manchester Originals. Baker struck straightaway getting rid of Bairstow for a bronze duck. He bowled a length delivery troubling on off-stump, Bairstow presented a straight bat but his luck ran out as he edged it straight to the fielder at first slip where Lewis Gregory dived forward to take a good catch. Luke Wells came out to bat next while Baker bowled another decent set with Steve Smith managing to hit a boundary off him to break the shackles.
Josh Tongue came to bowl next and was dispatched by Steve Smith for the maximum. Lewis Gregory came onto bowl next and he bowled a decent set. Sonny Baker came back to bowl the final set of powerplay and Smith hit him for two boundaries off 5 balls as the powerplay of 25 balls came to an end with Welsh Fire on 28/1. Tongue came back post the powerplay as Smith him for a boundary before Tongue hit back getting rid of Smith for 26 off 22 balls with 4 fours and a maximum to his name.
Tongue bowled a short ball into the wicket, Smith advanced and tried to slash it away but got a thick top edge to lob up and land into the keeper’s gloves for an easy catch for Buttler. Tom Abell came out to bat next. Wells managed to get a boundary away off Gregory. Scott Currie was introduced into the attack now as Wells hit him for a boundary. But Currie bounced back getting rid of Wells for 13 off 12 balls with two boundaries to his name.
Currie bowled a good length delivery outside off-stump, Wells checked his drive and mistakenly chipped it in front of covers where Gregory took a few paces forward and picked up a good catch to end Wells time in the middle. Tom Kohler-Cadmore came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Noor Ahmad was introduced into the attack next as Abell hit him for a boundary. Gregory bowled a decent 10th set.
At the halfway stage of the innings after 50 balls, Welsh Fire were 58/3. Tom Hartley was introduced into the attack next. Cadmore hit Hartley for a boundary while Abell survived a LBW appeal against Hartley as Manchester burnt their review. Hartley bowled back-to-back sets as Cadmore launched him down the ground for the maximum. He repeated the dose two balls later into the sight screen.
Abell took the attack to Noor and hit him for a boundary and Cadmore also managed to get a streaky boundary away off Noor. Hartley roared back and got rid of Tom Kohler-Cadmore for 26 off 16 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Hartley bowled from around the wicket short ball on off-stump drifted in with the angle, Cadmore rocked on the back foot and pulled it high towards deep backward square leg. Noor Ahmad settled underneath it to take the catch near the ropes. Saif Zaib came in next and got off the mark with a couple of runs.
Currie bowled a decent set as Welsh Fire were 96/4 in 75 balls. Tongue returned and got rid of Tom Abell for 22 off 17 balls with 2 fours to his name. Tongue bowled a back of a length delivery into the pitch on the stumps, Abell backed away and looked to upper cut it over third man but got a faint outside edge that went straight into the gloves of Jos Buttler. Chris Green came out to bat next. Green got off the mark as the 100 came up for Welsh Fire in 79 balls.
Zaib hit consecutive boundaries off Currie to put the pressure back on the bowler before the bowler hit back to get rid of Zaib for 15 off 11 balls with 2 boundaries to his name. Currie bowled the short ball outside off, Zaib went for the upper cut and didn’t time it well. He ended up lobbing it up straight in the air as Buttler took an easy catch. Paul Walter came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Green then took matter into his own hands as he smashed Sonny Baker for a maximum followed by a boundary while the bowler bowled a flurry of wides.
Green then launched Tongue over long-off for the maximum before Tongue hit back and end Green’s cameo of 19 off 9 balls with a boundary and 2 sixes to his name. Tongue bowled a back of a length delivery outside off with pace off the ball, Green dragged it from outside off looking to clear the man at long-on but doesn’t time it well. The ball went straight into the hands of Ben McKinney who took it easily. David Payne came to bat next. Currie then got rid of Walter for 3 off 6 balls.
Currie bowled a fuller length yorker at the base of middle stump, Walter failed to get his bat down in time and the ball sneaked under his bat to cannon into the stumps. Riley Meredith came out to bat next as runs came via leg bye, single and bye off the last 3 balls of the innings. Welsh Fire ended with 137/8 in 100 balls with David Payne on 2* off 2 balls and Riley Meredith on 0* off 2 balls. 11 extras given by the fielding side.
Josh Tongue was one of the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/25 in 20 balls while Scott Currie also bowled well for his 3/21 in 20 balls. Sonny Baker got a wicket and finished with 1/29 in 20 balls while Tom Hartley chipped in with 1/23 in 15 balls. Lewis Gregory gave 16 runs in 15 balls while Noor Ahmad gave 18 runs in 10 balls. It meant Manchester Originals needed 138 runs to win off 100 balls to register their second win this season.
All-Round bowling display starring Chris Green gives Welsh Fire a solid win
Chasing 138 for the win, Philip Salt and Ben McKinney came out to open for Manchester Originals while David Payne had ball in hand for Welsh Fire. Payne bowled a decent first set and bowled another set in which McKinney hit him for the first boundary in the innings. Riley Meredith came in to bowl the third set and he got rid of Manchester Originals captain Philip Salt for 3 off 4 balls.
Meredith bowled a short ball on the stumps, Salt got inside the line and helped it on its way to deep fine leg. Chris Green ran in from the fence, dived forward to get his fingers underneath the ball and take a brilliant low catch. Jos Buttler came out to bat at 3 and got off the mark. But Meredith had two in the set as he got rid of Ben McKinney for 10 off 10 balls with a boundary to his name.
Meredith bowled it short angling across from off-stump, McKinney decided to take it on and went for the pull to get a top edge that went straight up in the air. Steve Smith at mid-on settled underneath it to take a good catch. Mark Chapman came out to bat next. Meredith got another as he dismissed Chapman for a duck. He bowled it full and angling across from outside off, Chapman threw his hands at it away from the body and got the outside edge that flew to first slip. Tom Kohler-Cadmore kept his eyes on the ball and took a sharp catch. Heinrich Klaasen came out to bat next.
Josh Hull came to bowl the final set of powerplay as Jos Buttler hit him for consecutive boundaries in this set. At the end of 25 balls of powerplay, Manchester Originals were reeling at 25/3. Paul Walter came into the attack next. Buttler took on Walter and hit him for consecutive boundaries while Klaasen joined the party by hitting him for a boundary as well. Meredith bowled another decent set giving nothing away. Buttler once again hit Hull for a boundary to keep Manchester in the hunt.
Chris Green was introduced into the attack and he bowled a decent set as well. He was told to bowl the following set as well and got his first wicket as he dismissed Klaasen for 11 off 12 balls with a boundary to his name. Green bowled from around the wicket full and at the leg stump, Klaasen stepped down and looked to smash it down the ground and got an inside edge that flew away to deep fine leg where Luke Wells took an easy catch. Lewis Gregory came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway.
After 50 balls at the halfway stage of the chase, Manchester Originals were 58/4 requiring a further 80 runs off 50 balls. Buttler took the attack over Hull depositing him for the maximum. Walter bowled a tight set hardly giving anything away as Saif Zaib was introduced into the attack. Buttler greeted Zaib by hitting a boundary back past the bowler. He then launched Green for the maximum to get to his fifty in 28 balls and kept Manchester in the contest.
Gregory then joined the party by hitting consecutive boundaries off Hull as Manchester Originals reached 97/4 in 75 balls and needed a further 41 runs off 25 balls. Soon, Gregory got a boundary away off Walter as the 100 came up for the visitors in 78 balls. Then Chris Green struck a hammer blow to the visitors as he got rid of the well-set Jos Buttler for 57 off 34 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name.
Green bowled a back of a length delivery on the stumps, Buttler pulled it high in the air but the ball landed straight down the throat of Abell at deep forward square. Tom Hartley came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. But Green was not done yet as he dismissed Lewis Gregory the other set batter for 21 off 19 balls with 3 boundaries to his name. Full length delivery from Green on the stumps, Gregory lifted it high in the air towards deep midwicket where Abell settled underneath it comfortably to complete the catch. Scott Currie came out to bat next as the equation boiled down to 32 off 15 balls.
Payne got into the act as wickets continued to fall dismissing Hartley for 1 off 3 balls. Back of a length delivery outside off-stump, Hartley advanced and played a false club down the ground as Walter came in from long-on to complete the catch. Noor Ahmad came in and got off the mark as Payne had another in the set getting rid of Currie for 1 off 2 balls. Short of a length at the stumps from the bowler, Currie was way too early into the pull and the ball deflected back off his handle for Payne to put in the dive on the follow-up and complete the catch. Josh Tongue came to bat next.
Payne got another dismissing Noor for 2 off 3 balls. He bowled it short of the wicket on the stumps, Noor pulled it to deep midwicket where Green was a bit too inside but he backtracked well to take a high catch over his head and keep it within the ropes to complete the dismissal. He fell on his back but did well not to touch the ropes. Sonny Baker came out to bat at 11 and got off the mark.
Riley Meredith put an exclamation mark on the match as he cleaned up Baker for 1 off 3 balls. The perfect Yorker at the stumps, Baker was nowhere near with his bat and the bails fly off the top to hand the victory to home team Welsh Fire by a solid margin of 25 runs. Josh Tongue remained unbeaten on 2 off 2 balls as Manchester Originals were bowled out for 112 in 97 balls with 3 extras given by the fielding side.
Riley Meredith was the pick of the bowlers for Welsh Fire with figures of 4/9 in 17 balls. He was ably supported by David Payne who finished with 3/14 in 20 balls. Chris Green had a great all-round day as he finished with 3/19 in 20 balls with ball in hand. The others were wicketless, but didn’t need to take wickets as these three did the job with aplomb.
So, Welsh Fire climbed up to 5th in the points table with 1 win from 3 games with 4 points while Manchester Originals slip down to bottom of the table with 4 points from 4 games. Interestingly, teams from 5th-8th have 4 points to their kitty while the top 4 have 8 points to their kitty as things stand. For his all-round performance with bat, ball and in the field Chris Green was rightly awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
The bandwagon moves to the Home of Cricket at Lord’s in London for tonight’s Hundred clash as London Spirit hosts Trent Rockets at 11PM IST later tonight. London are in 6th place with 4 points from 3 games so they need a win while Trent Rockets have played only 2 games and won both and are the only unbeaten side this season as things stand.
So, things are heating up as we go along in Hundred 2025. We are slowly going to enter the business stage of the tournament where teams will be jostling for positions. It will be interesting viewing and watch for one and all following The Hundred till the end of this month.
Also Read:Â Hundred 2025: Manchester Originals Open Their Account With A Close Win Over London Spirit