Southern Brave held their nerve to edge out Welsh Fire by 4 runs at Southampton to end their season on a high. In what was a proper dead rubber between the two sides, Southern Brave played the big moments better and edged out a spirited chase from Welsh Fire. Batting first, Brave rode on a magnificent 70 from Jason Roy and contributions from others to post 167/7 in 100 balls.
In the chase, we saw Welsh Fire lose early wickets and it was Tom Kohler-Cadmore who stepped up with 84 off 46 balls to bring Welsh Fire back in the game. But it was Craig Overton’s 3/22 and Jordan Thompson’s 2/29 that went a long way in Southern Brave upstaging Welsh Fire and keeping them down to 163/6 in 100 balls. With this win, Southern Brave finished in 4th place with 16 points from 8 games while Welsh Fire with this tough loss finished at the bottom of the points table with just 8 points from 8 games.
Jason Roy’s breath-taking 70 powers Southern Brave to 163/6
Put into bat first, Toby Albert and captain James Vince came out to bat for Southern Brave while David Payne had ball in hand for Welsh Fire. Payne bowled a decent first set. Riley Meredith next had ball in hand. Meredith got rid of Albert for 4 off 5 balls. Meredith bowled a short ball angling into the body, Albert looked to pull it away but is completely late on the shot. The ball spooned up straight to Meredith who took a simple return catch. Jason Roy came out to bat next.
Payne struck next as he got rid of captain Vince for 3 off 4 balls. Payne bowled it full and angling across outside off-stump, Vince looked to drive it through extra cover but he only managed an inside edge onto the stumps. James Coles came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Roy got into the act as he dispatched Payne for a maximum over deep midwicket. Roy then took on Meredith and dispatched him over deep square leg for the maximum.
Coles managed to get a boundary away off Meredith. Chris Green came into the attack to bowl the final set of powerplay. He thought he had gotten rid of Roy but Roy reviewed and got the decision overturned in his favour. He then hit Green for a boundary through mid-off. After 25 balls of powerplay, Southern Brave were 34/2. Benjamin Kellaway came into the attack post the powerplay and got rid of Coles for 7 off 5 balls with a boundary to his name.
Kellaway bowled a flat length delivery on the stumps, Coles looked to make room and slap it through covers but he missed it. The ball went through to strike the off and middle stumps. Leus du Plooy came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. Saif Zaib came into the attack next. Jason Roy was in his zone as he smashed Zaib for back-to-back maximums. Josh Hull came into the attack next. du Plooy welcomed him with a boundary through mid-off and he ended the set with a maximum over deep backward square leg.
Roy hit a boundary off Kellaway through deep midwicket and survived a LBW call against the same bowler. Chris Green bowled a decent set. After 50 balls at the halfway stage of the innings, Southern Brave were 79/3. Du Plooy managed to get a boundary away off Hull. Hull then got rid of du Plooy for 30 off 21 balls with 2 fours and a maximum to his name.
Hull bowled a full delivery around off, du Plooy made room for himself and slammed it aerially from the inner half of his bat. Kohler-Cadmore at long-off ran forward and dived full length to take the catch with both hands. The TV umpire had a look at it and the fingers were underneath the ball. OUT was the call. Laurie Evans came out to bat next. Roy belted Green through the off-side for a boundary. Soon, Jason Roy reached his half-century off 30 balls.
The 100 came up for Southern Brave in 67 balls. Roy hit Kellaway for a boundary while Evans got into the act with a maximum off Kellaway. Meredith returned and was dispatched by Roy for a maximum followed by consecutive boundaries. Meredith got a wicket towards the end getting rid of Evans for 8 off 4 balls with a maximum to his name.
Meredith bowled it full and outside off-stump, Evans cleared his front leg and muscled it flat and hard straight down the ground. Kohler-Cadmore took a good catch at long-off. Michael Bracewell came out to bat next as Southern Brave reached 127/5 in 75 balls. David Payne returned to the attack and got rid of Jason Roy for 70 off 39 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes to his name.
Payne bowled a slower ball around the fourth stump, Roy was deceived with the slower delivery. He leant forward and looked to play the booming cover drive. He chipped it aerially to Steve Smith at long-off who came in and took a simple catch. Jordan Thompson came out to bat next. Soon, Michael Bracewell was run out for 1 off 4 balls. Tom Abell was quick to the ball and hit the direct hit at the bowler’s end to catch the batter short of his ground. Craig Overton came out to bat next.
Thompson got into the act as he smashed Kellaway over long-off for the maximum. Payne bowled a decent set to end his spell. Soon, the 150 came up for Brave in 96 balls. Overton smashed Meredith for hat-trick of boundaries which included a no ball. At the end of 100 balls, Southern Brave finished with 167/7 in 100 balls. Jordan Thompson finished unbeaten on 16 off 8 balls with a maximum to his name while Craig Overton finished unbeaten on 18 off 11 balls with 3 fours to his name. 10 extras given by the fielding side.
David Payne was the pick of the bowlers for Welsh Fire with figures of 2/17 in 20 balls. Riley Meredith picked up 2 wickets but gave away 50 runs in 20 balls. Benjamin Kellaway picked up 1/35 in 20 balls while Josh Hull picked up 1/24 in 15 balls. There was one run out in the innings. Chris Green bowled decently for his 0/24 in 20 balls. Saif Zaib gave away 16 runs in 5 balls. This meant Welsh Fire needed 168 to win off 100 balls to avoid the wooden spoon.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s 84 goes in vain as Welsh Fire falls short by 4 runs
Chasing 168 for the win, Stephen Eskinazi and Steve Smith came out to open the batting for Welsh Fire while Craig Overton had ball in hand for Southern Brave. Overton made the perfect start to the second innings for his side dismissing Eskinazi for a golden duck. He bowled from over the wicket a good length delivery around the fourth stump line shaping away a shade. Eskinazi leant forward and drove it uppishly to du Plooy at cover point who took a simple catch. Jonny Bairstow came out to bat next.
Steve Smith got a lucky boundary to third man area but Overton had his revenge dismissing Smith for 4 off 2 balls with a boundary under his name. Overton bowled a short of a good length around the fifth stump line swinging away, Smith punched it uppishly away from his body. Jason Roy at short cover took a really good catch with both hands. Captain Tom Abell came out to bat next.
Overton continued for another set as Abell was dropped by Jordan Thompson at cover point as Overton could have had his third wicket. Overton kept things under check as Jordan Thompson now came onto bowl. Bairstow hammered him through midwicket for a boundary but the bowler hit back getting rid of Bairstow for 5 off 10 balls with a boundary to his name.
Thompson bowled a good length delivery around fourth stump from wide of the crease, Bairstow looked to play the expansive drive away from the body and got a thick outside edge as Albert took a simple catch behind the stumps. Tom Kohler-Cadmore came to the crease now. Overton kept things tidy and bowled probing lines at the batters. Tymal Mills came into the attack to bowl the last set of powerplay. He bowled a decent set. After 25 balls of powerplay in the chase, Welsh Fire were 24/3.
James Coles came into the attack as Kohler-Cadmore smashed him for a boundary through the covers. Danny Briggs came into the attack and was greeted with a maximum from Kohler-Cadmore. Coles returned as Abell got into the act with back-to-back boundaries. But his stay did not last long as Overton came back and got rid of Abell for 20 off 15 balls with 2 fours to his name.
Overton bowled a length ball from over the wicket around the fourth stump line, Abell shuffled across the stumps and looked to ramp it down towards the fine leg fence. He got a faint edge off the gloves to the keeper who made no mistake. Benjamin Kellaway came out to bat next. He got off the mark with a brace and hit a boundary through midwicket. Kellaway survived a run out chance as the direct hit missed the stumps. Tymal Mills returned and was hit for a boundary through deep third man by Kellaway.
At the end of 50 balls at the halfway stage of the chase, Welsh Fire were 67/4 and needed a further 101 runs off 50 balls. Michael Bracewell came into the attack next and was greeted by Kohler-Cadmore for a maximum. Kohler-Cadmore got a reprieve as Overton dropped him at long-on. Kellaway punched Briggs through extra cover for a boundary. Coles returned after the break as Tom smashed him for back-to-back maximums as the 100 came up in 64 balls. Jordan Thompson bowled a tight set.
Kellaway was dropped by Vince albeit a very tough chance off Briggs’ bowling. Kohler-Cadmore then smashed Briggs past the bowler for a boundary to get to his fifty in 28 balls. After 75 balls, Welsh Fire were 119/4 and needed 49 runs off 25 balls. Kohler-Cadmore was dealing in sixes as he hit Coles for back-to-back maximums. Coles got himself a wicket as he dismissed Kellaway for 33 off 20 balls with 3 fours to his name.
He bowled a length delivery outside off-stump, Kellaway punched it to extra cover where James Vince dived forward to take a good catch. Chris Green walked out to bat next with 36 needed off 20 balls. Kohler-Cadmore managed to hit a boundary off Mills. Jordan Thompson returned with 28 needed off 15 balls. Thompson bowled a decent set keeping things under check. The equation boiled down to 23 off 10 balls.
Tymal Mills came and held his own giving away just 5 runs and the equation came down to 18 runs off the last 5 balls. Jordan Thompson was tasked to bowl the final over and he overstepped. The free hit yielded a brace only but Tom smashed Thompson down the ground for the maximum to bring the equation down to 7 off 3 balls. But Thompson bounced back to get rid of Cadmore for 84 off 46 balls with 3 fours and 7 sixes to his name.
Thompson bowled a fuller ball slow outside off-stump, Kohler-Cadmore looked to slog it over midwicket but he managed to only drag it onto the stumps. Saif Zaib came out to bat next with the equation down to 7 off 2 balls. Zaib got a single to get to the other end. But with 6 to get off the final ball, Green could only muster a single as Southern Brave won by 4 runs with Green remaining unbeaten on 7 off 6 balls while Saif Zaib unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
Craig Overton was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/22 in 20 balls for Southern Brave. He was ably supported by Jordan Thompson who finished with 2/29 in 20 balls. James Coles chipped in with 1/45 in 20 balls. Tymal Mills bowled well for his 0/24 in 20 balls. Danny Briggs gave 28 runs in 15 balls while Michael Bracewell gave 12 runs in 5 balls. So, Southern Brave win by 4 runs and Craig Overton was awarded the Player of the Match award.
Southern Brave with this win finish their campaign in 4th place with 16 points from 8 games. Welsh Fire finished at the bottom and the wooden spoon with 8 points from 8 games as both teams bid adieu to the tournament.
What Lies Ahead.
The stage is set for the knockout games of Hundred 2025 as the league stage has come to an end with this result. Hundred 2025 has a day’s break and action returns on Saturday 30th of August 2025 where the Eliminator match will take place as Trent Rockets will take on Northern Superchargers live from the Oval at 10:30 PM IST. The winner will face defending champions Oval Invincibles in the grand finale at Lord’s on Sunday.
Which team will come out on top at the Oval in London come Saturday night. Only time will tell and we cannot wait for the eliminator to get underway as Hundred 2025 reaches its climax.
Also Read: Hundred 2025: Rehan Ahmed’s All-Round Show Helps Trent Rockets Win A Thriller.