Liam Livingstone was on fire as the captain led from the front with both bat and ball as Birmingham Phoenix registered an emphatic 7-wicket win with 35 balls to spare. Liam Livingstone looked in his elements as he first chipped in with the ball and then did his bit with the ball. His 2/26 in 20 balls alongside Trent Boult’s 2/20 in 20 balls restricted London Spirit to 126/6 in 100 balls.
Then with the bat in hand, he combined well with Joe Clarke to take his side over the line. While Clarke made 54 off 25 balls before getting out, captain Liam Livingstone remained unbeaten on 45 off 20 balls before Jacob Bethell finished off with a flourish scoring 18* off 8 balls as Birmingham got over the line in 65 balls with 7 wickets in hand.
Liam Livingstone, Trent Boult’s 2-wickets apiece restricts London Spirit to 126/6
Put into bat first, David Warner and Jamie Smith came out to bat for London Spirit while Trent Boult had ball in hand for Birmingham Phoenix. Boult struck straightaway knocking Smith over for a silver duck. Boult bowled it full and straight at the base of middle stump, Jamie Smith shimmied down and yorked himself as he failed to dig it out in the end as the ball cannoned into the middle stump. Captain Kane Williamson came to the crease next and got off the mark with a boundary.
Adam Milne came to bowl the next set and he bowled a decent set. Williamson drove Boult away for a boundary through cover and point region. Milne bowled another decent set. Tim Southee came onto bowl the final set of powerplay. Williamson greeted him with a hat-trick of boundaries while Southee under pressure overstepped. The Free Hit yielded only a single fortunately for the bowler. After 25 balls of powerplay, London Spirit were 37/1.
Captain Liam Livingstone came into the attack post the powerplay. He got rid of David Warner for 9 off 12 balls. Livingstone bowled a length ball outside off slowed his pace as well. Warner backed away and looked to flat bat it over mid-off and didn’t get the timing right and ended up chipping it straight to Duckett at mid-off who made no mistake. Ollie Pope came out to bat next.
Benny Howell came onto the attack next. He conceded 4 byes first up to the batting side. Chris Wood came into the attack next and delivered a miserly set even as the 50 came up for London Spirit in 40 balls. Livingstone bowled another tight set giving nothing away. Ollie Pope broke the shackles as he drilled Benny Howell through covers for a boundary. After 50 balls at the halfway stage of the innings, London Spirit were 66/2.
Chris Wood broke the budding partnership as Kane Williamson fell for 33 off 29 balls with 5 boundaries to his name. Wood bowled a length delivery outside leg stump, Williamson moved across to lap it over short fine leg but he failed to make contact as the ball ended up striking the leg stump. Ashton Turner came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Pope was put down by Howell off his own bowling, a tough chance but should have been taken at this level.
Pope managed to hit Howell away for a boundary just to add insult to injury while Turner got into the act hitting a boundary off Howell as well. Liam Livingstone came back and struck again getting rid of Ollie Pope for 23 off 17 balls with 2 fours to his name. Livingstone bowled it full and down leg, Pope got down on his knee to sweep but got a top edge to short fine leg where Chris Wood ran slightly backwards to take the easy catch. Sean Dickson came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Dickson took the attack to Livingstone smashing him for a maximum and a boundary as the skipper completed his set. Turner smashed Wood for a maximum as the 100 came up for London Spirit in 75 balls. After 75 balls, London Spirit were 103/4. Adam Milne came back and bowled a miserly set. Benny Howell struck for his side removing Sean Dickson for 16 off 15 balls with one four and a six to his name. Howell bowled a full toss outside off, Dickson looked to deposit over the fence but he mistimed it to long-on where Ben Duckett took a comfortable catch. Liam Dawson came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary.
Trent Boult came back into the attack and bowled a tidy set. Adam Milne also bowled a decent set as the boundaries had dried up totally. Trent Boult struck in the first ball of the final set of the innings getting rid of Ashton Turner for 20 off 15 balls with a boundary and a maximum to his name. Boult bowled full outside leg from over the wicket, Turner looked to slog it over deep midwicket but he failed to make contact as the ball went onto deflect off the pads and hit the leg stump. Luke Wood came to the crease next and got off the mark.
Runs came in singles off the last set as London Spirit finished with 126/6 in 100 balls. Liam Dawson remained unbeaten on 12 off 8 balls with a boundary to his name while Luke Wood remained unbeaten on 2 off 3 balls. 11 extras given by the fielding side.
Trent Boult was the pick of the bowlers for Birmingham Phoenix as he finished with 2/20 in 20 balls. He was ably assisted by Liam Livingstone who finished with 2/26 in 20 balls. Benny Howell picked up a wicket as he finished with 1/27 in 20 balls while Chris Wood chipped in with 1/16 in 15 balls. Adam Milne bowled decently for his 16 runs off 20 balls that he finished with while Tim Southee bowled 5 balls and gave away 17 runs. This meant Birmingham Phoenix needed 127 runs off 100 balls to win this game.
Liam Livingstone & Joe Clarke takes Birmingham Phoenix over the line with plenty of balls to spare
Chasing 127 for the win, Will Smeed and Ben Duckett came out to open the batting for Birmingham Phoenix while Luke Wood had ball in hand for London Spirit. Wood struck early removing Smeed for a silver duck to give Spirit a perfect start. Wood bowled it full and shaping in from outside off, Smeed didn’t move his feet and looked to push at it in front of his pads. The ball sneaked under the willow and castled the off-stump. Joe Clarke came out to bat at 3 and got off the mark with a boundary.
Clarke was on the charge as he smashed Luke Wood for hat-trick of boundaries as Wood bowled back-to-back sets. Daniel Worrall came into the act next and Clarke was seeing the ball like a football and smashed the bowler straight down the ground for a boundary. Richard Gleeson came into the attack next as Clarke managed to get a boundary away off him as well through midwicket.
Olly Stone came into the attack as Duckett welcomed him with a boundary as he finally joined in the party. Clarke was looking unstoppable as he smashed Olly Stone for a maximum over backward square leg. At the end of 25 balls of powerplay, Birmingham Phoenix were 41/1. Liam Dawson came into the attack post the powerplay. Dawson got his reward straightaway getting rid of Ben Duckett for 11 off 10 balls with a boundary to his name.
Dawson bowled it short and wide of off-stump, Duckett slapped it to extra cover where Kane Williamson took the catch. Captain Liam Livingstone came out to bat next. The wicket did not stop Clarke though as he continued to go berserk. Clarke hit Richard Gleeson for a maximum and followed that up with consecutive boundaries. Soon, Clarke got to his fifty off 23 balls by smashing a boundary off Dawson.
Dawson injured himself while trying to stop Liam Livingstone shot and walked off the field. Daniel Worrall came into complete the set and he got rid of Joe Clarke for 54 off 25 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Worrall bowled it full outside off, Clarke looked to smash it out of the park but he miscued it to deep midwicket where Ollie Pope took the catch. Jacob Bethell came out to bat next.
Ashton Turner came onto bowl next and bowled back-to-back tidy sets. After 50 balls in the chase, Birmingham Phoenix were 79/3 and needed 48 more off 50 balls. Bethell hit back-to-back sixes off Worrall to ease the pressure from the batting side. Liam Livingstone was also in a hurry as he smashed Olly Stone for a boundary and then followed that up with a maximum as the 100 came up for the home side in 57 balls. Livingstone did not stop there as he launched another maximum over deep midwicket.
Livingstone tore Richard Gleeson apart as he smashed him down the ground for the maximum. The captain then hit back-to-back sixes off Gleeson over deep midwicket to seal the deal as Birmingham Phoenix got over the line winning by 7 wickets with 35 balls to spare. Livingstone’s unbeaten 45 off 20 balls consisted off 1 four and 5 sixes while Jacob Bethell’s unbeaten 18 off 8 balls consisted off 2 sixes. 3 extras given by the fielding side.
Luke Wood picked up 1/17 in 10 balls while Daniel Worrall picked up 1/20 in 12 balls. Liam Dawson also had a wicket to his name finishing with 1/10 off 8 balls as he went off the field injuring his hand. Richard Gleeson gave away 44 runs in 15 balls while Olly Stone gave away 29 runs in 10 balls. Ashton Turner bowled 10 decent balls for 11 runs.
So, Birmingham Phoenix won by 7 wickets with 35 balls to spare and for his all-round efforts with bat and ball, Liam Livingstone was awarded Player of the Match. With this win, Birmingham Phoenix moved up to 6th in the points table with 8 points from 5 games same as their opponents London Spirit who are in 7th place with 8 points from 5 games behind only on Net Run Rate.
What Lies Ahead
The bandwagon moves to Southampton where Southern Brave will be hosting defending champions Oval Invincibles from 11PM IST. Southern Brave are in 4th place currently, while Oval are perched at the top of the points table. The clash will be intriguing and interesting as well.
Hundred 2025 has gone past its halfway stage and teams will be jostling for positions now in the points table in the coming days. That will make for great viewing for viewers, fans, alike as Hundred will heat up with each coming day.
Also Read: Hundred 2025: Jamie Smith’s Impressive Half-Century Leads London Spirit To An Important Win