Rehan Ahmed had a great day in the office at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. He starred first with the ball and then with the bat as Trent Rockets edged out Birmingham Phoenix in a thriller to secure second place in the points table. Rehan Ahmed looked like a man possessed and had a point to prove to all his critics. His 3/15 alongside contributions from George Linde, Ben Sanderson, Lockie Ferguson, and Joe Root helped limit Birmingham Phoenix to 111/9 in 100 balls.
In reply, Rehan Ahmed made an important 37 off 23 balls while the others around him faltered a bit. Joe Root made 25 while Ben Cox’s 17* off 12 balls in the end made sure that Trent Rockets scraped past the finishing line by 3 wickets with a ball to spare. Rockets with this win do go upwards to 24 points but finished below Oval Invincibles on Net Run Rate and ahead of Northern Superchargers. So, Rockets will meet Superchargers in the Eliminator match on Saturday at the Oval.
Rehan Ahmed’s 3/15 restricts Birmingham Phoenix to 111/9.
Put into bat first, Will Smeed and Ben Duckett came out to open the batting for Birmingham Phoenix while captain David Willey had ball in hand for Trent Rockets. Willey started with a decent set. Ben Sanderson shared the new ball from the other end. Duckett welcomed him with back-to-back boundaries. Willey continued to bowl and was drilled down the ground by Duckett. Marcus Stoinis came into the attack next and was launched by Smeed for a maximum.
Lockie Ferguson came to bowl the final set of powerplay and he got rid of Ben Duckett for 20 off 15 balls with 3 fours to his name. Ferguson bowled a short ball bumper into the wicket, Duckett took it on and mistimed the pull shot to the midwicket fielder where Rehan Ahmed took the catch as Duckett was undone by the pace on the ball. Joe Clarke came out to bat next and managed to get a boundary away off Ferguson to fine third man. After 25 balls of powerplay, Birmingham Phoenix were 42/1.
George Linde came into the attack post the powerplay and got rid of Clarke for 6 off 7 balls with a boundary to his name. Linde floated it up on a length that was fraction fuller, Clarke unleashed the slog sweep picking it in front of the stumps and picked out Holden at forward deep square leg. Captain Liam Livingstone walked out to bat next. Smeed took the attack to Linde hitting him for consecutive boundaries.
David Willey came back into the attack and was hammered by his opposite number for a boundary down the ground. Rehan Ahmed was soon introduced into the attack and he got rid of Will Smeed for 23 off 12 balls with 2 fours and a maximum to his name. Rehan bowled a good length outside off-stump there to slashed. Smeed tried it and could get an inside edge back onto the stumps. Jacob Bethell came out to bat next but fell for a bronze duck to Rehan Ahmed in the same set.
Rehan bowled a good length delivery pitching outside off and spun towards the wicket. Bethell flipped very early to reverse sweep and ended up giving a catching practise to Tom Banton at backward point. Dan Mousley came out to bat next. Mousley survived a close LBW and stumping call against Rehan as the Rockets lost their review. After 50 balls at the halfway stage of the innings, Birmingham Phoenix were 61/4.
Joe Root came into the attack and bowled a miserly set. Linde came back and dismissed Livingstone for 10 off 13 balls with a boundary to his name. Linde bowled a length ball at the stumps, pitching and skidding through the surface and kept a bit low as well. Livingstone rocked back and looked to pull away into the onside and missed it on the inside edge to rattle the stumps. Benny Howell came out to bat next and got off the mark. Rehan bowled another tight set.
He bowled another one back-to-back and got rid of Benny Howell for 3 off 5 balls. He bowled a googly on a length around fifth stump, Howell got down on one knee and dragged the slog sweep flat and hard. Holden at deep midwicket came in to grab a sharp catch. Liam Patterson-White came out to bat next. Mousley managed to get a maximum off Rehan despite a brilliant effort by David Willey in the deep. The umpires ruled it as maximum even though it felt initially the save was made well.
Joe Root got into the act as he dismissed Patterson-White for 1 off 2 balls. Root tossed it up from around the wicket full around off, gripped and turned away from the batter. Patterson-White looked to play the booming drive away from his body and got a faint outside edge to the keeper and was out of his crease too. The keeper collected the ball and whipped off the bails in a flash. Adam Milne came out to bat next and got off the mark. After 75 balls, Birmingham Phoenix were 81/7.
Root bowled the next set too and kept things tight. Lockie Ferguson returned and bowled a decent set as well. Ben Sanderson returned and got rid of Adam Milne for 6 off 12 balls. He bowled a length ball around the fourth stump with pace off the ball, Milne was through with the lofted stroke way too early and mistimed it straight up in the air. Willey moved to his right from long-off to settle underneath it and completed a good catch. Trent Boult came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway.
Boult managed to hit Ferguson for a boundary down the ground as the 100 came up for Birmingham Phoenix in 95 balls. Boult was having fun as he hit Sanderson for a boundary over backward point. A few ones and twos later, Mousley fell off the final ball of the innings for 26 off 25 balls with a maximum to his name to Sanderson.
Sanderson bowled a low full toss around middle and leg stump, Mousley looked to whip it away on the leg side. He got a top edge that went straight up in the air as Holden at short leg settled underneath it to take the safe catch. Boult remained unbeaten on 11 off 6 balls with 2 boundaries to his name as Birmingham Phoenix finished with 111/9 in 100 balls. 5 extras given by the fielding side.
Rehan Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers for Trent Rockets with figures of 3/15 in 20 balls. He was ably supported by George Linde who finished with 2/12 in 15 balls. Ben Sanderson chipped in with 2/26 in 15 balls. Lockie Ferguson chipped in with 1/20 in 15 balls. Joe Root bowled well for his 1/8 in 15 balls. David Willey finished with 0/18 in 15 balls. Marcus Stoinis gave 11 runs in 5 balls. This meant Trent Rockets needed 112 to win off 100 balls to confirm second place in the points table.
Rehan Ahmed’s 37 off 23 balls guides Trent Rockets past the finishing line.
Chasing 112 for the win, Tom Banton and Joe Root came out to bat for Trent Rockets while Trent Boult had ball in hand for Birmingham Phoenix. Root survived a close LBW shout against Boult via a successful DRS. Boult bowled another set and got rid of Tom Banton for 1 off 5 balls. Boult bowled a good length delivery around the fifth stump, Banton danced down the track and stayed leg side of the ball and looked to loft it over the top of mid-off. He mistimed it off the inner half as Milne took a simple catch at mid-on.
Rehan Ahmed came out to bat and got off the mark with a brace. Adam Milne came into the attack next and bowled a tight set. Boult conceded 4 byes to the batting side as the keeper missed the ball. Rehan took the attack to Boult hitting him for two consecutive boundaries. Liam Patterson-White came to bowl the final set of powerplay as Root took him on hitting him for consecutive boundaries and could have had a third had it not been for great fielding by Bethell. After 25 balls of powerplay in the chase, Trent Rockets were 31/1.
Captain Liam Livingstone came into the attack post the powerplay. He delivered a tidy set. Benny Howell was next introduced into the attack. Root welcomed him with a boundary while Rehan hit the last ball of the set for a maximum over deep midwicket. Rehan reverse swept Patterson-White for a boundary. He once again hit the same bowler for a boundary through the covers before surviving a LBW scare by successfully using the DRS.
Livingstone bowled another tidy set. He bowled another back-to-back and was hammered by Rehan for a boundary. But Livingstone hit back getting rid of Rehan for 37 off 23 balls with 5 fours and a maximum to his name. Liam fired in at the stumps, Rehan went for the fine slog sweep but only got the height on it and not the distance. Chris Wood at deep backward square leg ran swiftly to his left before tumbling forward to take the catch. Captain David Willey came out to bat next. After 50 balls at the halfway stage of the chase, Trent Rockets were 66/2 and needed a further 46 runs off the back 50 balls.
Patterson-White continued and got rid of Root for 25 off 25 balls with 3 fours to his name. He darted in at pace, Root went for the reverse sweep and was late on the ball which was also a bit too full for the shot. The ball cannoned into the leg stump. Marcus Stoinis came out to bat next. Patterson-White got another getting rid of David Willey for 2 off 4 balls.
Flighted ball on a good length from the bowler outside off with the ball spinning away. Willey looked to prod at it as the ball went through the gap between bat and pad to clatter the stumps. George Linde walked out to bat next. Livingstone bowled a tidy set. Dan Mousley was introduced into the attack next. Mousley bowled a tidy set as well. Benny Howell returned and we saw Linde being run out by Mousley and Howell combination as a miscommunication between the batters brought about his downfall. Sam Hain came to the crease next.
Stoinis broke the shackles by getting a boundary away through extra covers. After 75 balls, Trent Rockets were 84/5 needing a further 28 runs off 25 balls as Jacob Bethell was introduced into the attack. Hain greeted Bethell by slog sweeping him for a boundary. Bethell struck gold as he got rid of Marcus Stoinis for 12 off 13 balls with a boundary to his name.
Bethell darted in at a length on middle and leg stump, Stoinis wanted to work it leg side but ended up closing the bat face too early. The ball ballooned off the leading edge and gave Liam Livingstone at extra cover an easy catch. Ben Cox came into bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Bethell bowled a decent set keeping things tight. Chris Wood came onto bowl with 17 needed off 15 balls. Cox hit a boundary off Wood through fine leg as the 100 came up in 89 balls.
Jacob Bethell came to bowl the penultimate set of the match with 10 needed off 10 balls. He got rid of Sam Hain on the final ball of the set for 11 off 10 balls with a boundary to his name. Bethell delivered fuller side of good length outside off-stump, Hain unfurled the slog sweep as the ball went up in the air. Benny Howell at deep midwicket settled underneath it and took the catch. Max Holden came out to bat next with 6 needed off 5 balls.
Jacob Bethell was told to continue with the final set as well. After a single, dot ball and a brace, Ben Cox held his nerve and hit Bethell for a boundary through a sweep behind square as Trent Rockets got over the line by 3 wickets and a ball to spare. Cox remained unbeaten on 17 off 12 balls with 2 fours to his name while Max Holden remained unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 4 extras given by the fielding side.
Liam Patterson-White was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/25 in 20 balls while Jacob Bethell bowled well at the death finishing with 2/22 in 19 balls. Trent Boult got a wicket in his 1/12 in 15 balls. Liam Livingstone bowled a miserly spell in his 1/17 in 20 balls. Adam Milne gave 3 runs in 5 balls. Benny Howell gave 20 runs in 10 balls. Dan Mousley gave 3 runs in 5 balls. Chris Wood gave away 7 runs in 5 balls. So, Trent Rockets won by 3 wickets and for his all-round performance, Rehan Ahmed was awarded the Player of the Match.
With this win, Trent Rockets finish their league campaign on 24 points from 8 games level with Oval Invincibles at the top but behind on Net Run Rate. So, they finish second ahead of Northern Superchargers who finish 3rd with 20 points. Birmingham Phoenix finish with 12 points from 8 games in 4th place as they end their campaign with a loss.
What Lies Ahead.
The playoffs spots are sealed and the Eliminator match for Saturday is set. But before that, we have the small matter of the last league game to get through today. It will be Match 32 featuring Southern Brave who will host Welsh Fire at Southampton from 11PM IST. Southern Brave are in 5th place as we speak with 12 points while Welsh Fire are at the bottom with 8 points looking to end season on a high.
Both teams are out of contention and will look to end their campaign on a winning note. This is a proper dead rubber before the playoffs over the weekend where Oval Invincibles the defending champions have already booked a place in the final. Let’s see how this match unfolds before playoffs come calling for all of us.
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