David Warner showed his class and batting prowess as his unbeaten 70 highlighted a tense win for London Spirit over Welsh Fire. David Warner looked great from the get go as his unbeaten 70 alongside contributions from the other batters took London Spirit to 163/5 in 100 balls which was a very competitive score.
In reply, Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 86 off 50 balls went in vain as lack of support from the other batters meant that the Welsh Fire fell 8 runs short of the target. Only Chris Green towards the end with his unbeaten 32 supported Bairstow but to no avail as the bowlers of London did just enough to eke out a win.
David Warner’s fiery unbeaten 70 powers London Spirit to 163/5
Put into bat first, captain Kane Williamson and David Warner walked out to bat for London Spirit while David Payne had the ball in hand. Payne bowled a tidy first set and he continued to bowl another set. Warner then made his intentions clear hitting him for back-to-back boundaries to end the second set. Riley Meredith came onto bowl the next set and bowled a decent set. Josh Hull was next introduced into the attack and Warner hit him for a boundary.
Payne came back to bowl another set as Warner hit him over mid-on for a boundary. At the end of the 25 balls of powerplay, London Spirit were 29/0 and off to a steady start. Paul Walter was introduced into the attack after the powerplay. Williamson got into the act as he hit Walter for a maximum over the bowler’s head. Hull eventually provided the breakthrough as Williamson fell for 14 off 14 balls with a maximum to his name.
Hull bowled a good length delivery on off-stump, Kane jumped out of his crease and threw it over the bowler’s head but found a lanky Paul Walter guiding the ropes at long-on. Jamie Smith came out to bat next. Chris Green came into the attack next and bowled a miserly set. Jamie Smith broke the shackles as he hit Meredith for a boundary after Bairstow had dropped a sitter off Riley the previous ball.
Walter once again bowled a tight set as London Spirit reached 60/1 in 50 balls at the halfway stage of the innings. David Warner decided to take on the bowling by smashing Chris Green for 3 sixes in 5 balls and all of those were clean hits. Jamie Smith joined in the fun as he hit Josh Hull for a maximum followed up with a boundary. Hull struck back though getting rid of Jamie Smith for 26 off 14 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name.
Hull bowled a hard length delivery that Smith looked to charge at before he swung his bat with vehemence. The ball flew off the top edge and Wells at backward point took the catch easily. Ashton Turner came out to bat next. Saif Zaib was introduced into the attack as Warner reverse swept him for a boundary. Ashton Turner hit Paul Walter for a boundary as the 100 came up for London Spirit in 67 balls. Warner survived a caught behind appeal from Walter as the fielding side burnt the review.
Turner was on a roll all of a sudden as he hit Hull for two consecutive boundaries and hit another boundary off the last ball of the set to end a big set. After 75 balls, London Spirit were 119/2. Riley Meredith came back and dismissed Ashton Turner for 24 off 14 balls with 4 boundaries to his name. Meredith bowled a back of a length ball, slanting across outside off, Turner backed away and ended up flat batting it to mid-on where Steve Smith took the catch easily. Sean Dickson came out to bat next. Dickson got off the mark with a boundary.
Soon, David Warner reached his fifty off 35 balls. Dickson showed great deft touch to hit Walter for a boundary. Warner then crunched Green for a boundary as Spirit were eyeing a big total. Warner then hit Payne for a boundary off a no ball. The free hit yielded a wicket as Dickson was run out for 14 off 9 balls with 2 boundaries to his name. There was only a single, but Dickson wanted the second and was sent back too late as he was short of his crease. Jamie Overton came out to bat next.
Payne got rid of Overton for a silver duck. Payne bowled a hard length ball, Overton stayed rooted to the crease and swung his bat with vehemence. The connection was not good enough as Walter took the catch in the deep. Keaton Jennings came out to bat next. Warner hit Meredith for a boundary to start the last set and the runs came in twos and ones in the remaining balls of the set.
Warner remained unbeaten on 70 off 45 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes to his name while Keaton Jennings remained unbeaten on 5 off 3 balls. 10 extras given by the fielding side as London Spirit ended with 163/5 in 100 balls.
Josh Hull picked up a couple of wickets and finished with 2/36 in 20 balls. Riley Meredith finished with 1/26 in 20 balls while David Payne finished with 1/28 in 20 balls. There was also one run out in the innings. The other bowlers went wicketless for Welsh Fire. It meant that Welsh Fire needed 164 for the win in 100 balls.
Jonny Bairstow’s Unbeaten 86 Goes in Vain as Welsh Fire falls short of target
Chasing 164 for the win, Steve Smith and Jonny Bairstow came out to open the batting for Welsh Fire. Luke Wood had ball in his hand. Wood bowled a decent first set. Daniel Worrall came to bowl the next set and was welcome with a boundary by Jonny Bairstow. Richard Gleeson came in to bowl the next set and got the breakthrough for his side getting rid of Steve Smith for 3 off 5 balls.
Gleeson bowled it very full at off and middle stump, Smith shuffled to the off-side and brought out the scoop. Jennings was stationed very fine at deep third boundary almost like a fly slip and he took the catch straight down his throat. Luke Wells came out to bat at 3 and got off the mark with a boundary. Wells was not ready to slow down as hit Worrall for two consecutive boundaries but the bowler had the last laugh getting rid of Wells for 12 off 8 balls with 3 boundaries to his name via a successful DRS call.
Length delivery angling down the leg side, Wells looked to whip it towards long leg and managed to feather it to the keeper. It was given NOT OUT and overturned via DRS call. Tom Abell came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary. Luke Wood dismissed Abell for 5 off 4 balls with a boundary to his name. Back of a length delivery that sat up below the chest height. Abell pulled and did not catch it in the meat of the bat. Easy catch for Turner at deep backward square leg. Tom Kohler-Cadmore came out to bat next.
After 25 balls of powerplay, Welsh Fire were struggling at 30/3. Jamie Overton was introduced after powerplay and was welcomed with a boundary by Cadmore. But Overton hit back dismissing him for 4 off 5 balls. Hard length delivery outside off, Cadmore stayed deep in his crease and tried to heave it leg side, but did not catch it in the meat of the bat. The ball ballooned to offer Jennings at midwicket an easy catch. Saif Zaib came out to bat next.
Worrall struck again dismissing Zaib for 2 off 3 balls. He bowled it from around the wicket tailing in a long way and finished at the blockhole. Zaib was late to get his bat down in time as the ball went on to hit the off-stump. Paul Walter came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary. Bairstow then hit Worrall for a boundary to keep his side in the chase.
Liam Dawson was introduced into the attack. He started his spell and bowled a decent set. He continued to bowl another set back-to-back and got rid of Paul Walter for 6 off 6 balls with a boundary to his name. Dawson bowled a quicker one speared into the middle stump, Walter ended up flicking it straight to Kane Williamson at short midwicket who took the catch easily. Chris Green came out to bat next and got off the mark with a brace as Welsh Fire reached 58/6 after 50 balls at the halfway stage of the chase. They needed 106 more off 50 balls.
Gleeson bowled a tight set as the required rate was climbing upwards. Bairstow broke the shackles as he slashed Overton for a boundary. Green survived a close LBW appeal against Dawson. Green then hit Wood for a boundary down the ground before Bairstow launched Wood for a maximum over long-off and followed it off with another maximum and a boundary down the ground as well. 70 was now needed off 30 balls.
Green hit Overton for 3 runs and hit Overton for a boundary as the 100 came up for Welsh Fire in 74 balls. After 75 balls, Welsh Fire were 103/6 needing 61 off the last 25 balls. Green smashed Gleeson for a maximum over deep point. The equation boiled down to 51 off 20 balls. Bairstow hit Dawson for a boundary to get to his fifty in 36 balls. He was not done yet as he smashed Dawson down the ground over long-on for the maximum as the equation came down to 38 off 15 balls.
Bairstow hit another boundary through a scoop past the keeper as the equation boiled down to 31 off 10 balls. Bairstow took on Overton and smashed him for two consecutive maximums while the rest of the balls did not go to the fence. The Fire needed 17 to win off the last 5 balls of the match as Luke Wood was given the ball.
Wood held his nerve bowling two dots and a brace to Jonny Bairstow to seal it for his side. Bairstow did hit a maximum off the 5th ball of the set but it was too little too late. The final ball was a dot ball as London Spirit won the match by 8 runs. Bairstow remained unbeaten on 86 off 50 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes to his name while Chris Green was unbeaten on 32 off 21 balls with 2 fours and a six to his name. 5 extras given by the fielding side.
For London Spirit, Daniel Worrall picked up 2/31 in 20 balls. Luke Wood picked up 1/35 in 20 balls. Richard Gleeson picked up 1/25 in 20 balls. Jamie Overton chipped in with 1/38 in 20 balls while Liam Dawson finished with 1/25 in 20 balls as only 5 bowlers were used by London Spirit captain Kane Williamson. So, a win for Spirit by 8 runs and for his unbeaten 70 off 45 balls, David Warner was awarded the Player of the Match award. London get their first win and have 4 points from 2 games while Fire have lost both their games and are languishing towards the bottom half of the table.
What Lies Ahead
Super Sunday like Saturday has two games lined up in Hundred 2025. First up the bandwagon will be in Southampton where Southern Brave will host Birmingham Phoenix at 7PM IST and which will be followed by Trent Rockets hosting Northern Superchargers at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
Double the action, double the fun and drama in Hundred 2025 on Super Sunday. The players will be out there to prove a point and shine under the spotlight. Non-stop action of The Hundred continues through the month of August and things will get exciting as we go along even more.
Also Read: Hundred 2025: Zak Crawley’s Unbeaten 50 Bolsters Northern Superchargers To Emphatic 8-Wicket Win