Zak Crawley was at his best as his unbeaten half-century powered Northern Superchargers to an emphatic 8-wicket win with 11 balls to spare in front of their home ground at Leeds, Headingley. Zak Crawley showed his class in the shortest format after an average Test series against India and complimented Dawid Malan really well.
Welsh Fire batted first and rode on Jonny Bairstow’s 42 and Steve Smith 29 alongside contributions from the rest of the order to put up 143/9 in 100 balls. Adil Rashid, Matthew Potts, and Imad Wasim picked up 2 wickets apiece. In reply, Zak Crawley put up a show and scored an unbeaten 67 off 38 balls and was complimented well by Dawid Malan who scored 41 off 29 balls. Later on, skipper Harry Brook finished it off with an unbeaten 25 off 15 balls as the hosts got over the line with 11 balls to spare.
Jonny Bairstow’s 42 propels Welsh Fire to 143/9
Put into bat first, Steve Smith and Jonny Bairstow came out to open the batting for Welsh Fire. Imad Wasim bowled the first set and was hit for a lovely boundary by Steve Smith who was making his Hundred debut. Mohammad Amir bowled a decent set as runs were coming in singles. Jonny Bairstow broke the shackles as he hit Tom Lawes for consecutive boundaries. Bairstow then took the attack to Amir hitting him for a boundary.
Amir hurt himself and was on the floor for a while before he got up but once again he was hit for a boundary by Bairstow. Matthew Potts was introduced into the attack to bowl the final set of powerplay and he was dispatched for a maximum and a boundary by Steve Smith who joined the party. At the end of the powerplay, Welsh Fire were 46/0 in 25 balls.
Adil Rashid came just after the powerplay and bowled a decent set even as the 50-run stand and team total came up in 29 balls. Bairstow drilled Imad Wasim over covers for a boundary. Matthew Potts came back into the attack and he got rid of Steve Smith for 29 off 18 balls with 2 fours and a six to his name. Potts bowled it full and on the leg stump, Smith looked to play the reverse ramp and got an inside edge as the ball rolled back onto the middle stump. Luke Wells came out to the middle and fell first ball to Potts for a golden duck.
Potts bowled a length ball outside off-stump angling across, Wells felt for it away from the body and got an outside edge that was taken easily behind the stumps by Michael Pepper as Potts was on a hat-trick. Tom Abell came to face the hat-trick ball and hit it away for a boundary square of the wicket. Bairstow then took on Adil Rashid and hit him for two consecutive boundaries before Rashid hit back to get rid of Bairstow for 42 off 23 balls with 7 fours to his name.
Rashid bowled it fuller and tossed up outside off, Bairstow looked to go big down the ground. He failed to get the timing right and ended up hitting it straight down the throat of Zak Crawley who took a simple catch at long-on. Tom Kohler-Cadmore came out to bat next. Adil Rashid bowled a decent 10th set and at the half-way stage after 50 balls, Welsh Fire were 82/3.
Mohammad Amir was pulled away by Abell for a boundary. Abell looked in decent form as he hit another boundary this time off Tom Lawes despite breaking his bat. But unfortunately against the run of play, Tom Abell was run out for 18 off 11 balls with 3 boundaries to his name. Zak Crawley did well at long-on to field the ball. Mix up between the batters and that meant Abell had to depart. Saif Zaib came to the crease next and got off the mark as the 100 came up after 63 balls. Tom Lawes struck soon as he got rid of Tom Kohler-Cadmore for 10 off 13 balls as it was a struggle for him.
Lawes pitched it fuller outside off-stump, Kohler-Cadmore’s feet barely moved and threw his bat at it with vehemence only to get the thick inside edge back onto the stumps. Paul Walter came to the crease next. Daniel Lawrence came into the attack as Walter survived a run out chance at the striker’s end. Welsh Fire were 110/5 in 75 balls. Zaib hit Lawrence for a boundary before the fielding side burnt a review for caught behind. Walter then slog swept Lawrence for the maximum. Adil Rashid broke the budding stand as he dismissed Walter for 15 off 10 balls with a maximum to his name.
Rashid bowled a good length delivery outside off with pace off the ball, Walter flat-batted it towards long-off. The ball hung in the air for quite a while before Zak Crawley positioned himself to take the skier and take the catch. Chris Green came out to bat next. Zaib pummelled Wasim for a boundary before the left-arm spinner hit back to dismiss Zaib for 13 off 10 balls with 2 fours to his name. Wasim bowled a good length ball angling away from the left-hander. Zaib shimmied down the track and didn’t quite get to the pitch of the ball. He still went through with the shot and did not clear the 30-yard circle. Brook ran to his right to dive and take a spectacular catch. David Payne came in next.
Imad Wasim dismissed Payne for a silver duck. Wasim bowled it quicker through the air angled into the stumps on a good length, Payne opened his shoulders and swung across the line to connect with nothing. Josh Hull came to the crease next. Amir got into the act next getting rid of Chris Green for 3 off 4 balls. He bowled a fuller length with pace on the ball on leg stump, Green opened his shoulders and tonked it towards cow corner only to find Dan Lawrence at the boundary line. Riley Meredith came out to bat at the end.
After a string of singles, Meredith hit the last ball away for a boundary as Welsh Fire finished with 143/9 in 100 balls. Meredith was unbeaten on 7 off 5 balls with a boundary to his name while Hull was unbeaten on 3 off 3 balls. Just 3 extras given by the fielding side.
Adil Rashid was the pick of the bowlers for Northern Superchargers as he finished with 2/25 in 20 balls. Matthew Potts chipped in with 2/26 in 15 balls. Imad Wasim bowled well for his 2/26 in 20 balls. Mohammad Amir picked up a wicket in his 1/28 in 20 balls while Tom Lawes picked up a wicket in his 1/19 in 15 balls. Daniel Lawrence gave away 19 runs off 10 balls. This meant the target for home side Northern Superchargers was 144 in 100 balls.
Zak Crawley’s Unbeaten Fifty Powers An Emphatic Chase
To chase 144 for the win, Zak Crawley and Dawid Malan walked out to bat for Superchargers. Malan got the first boundary off the innings as he hit David Payne for a boundary. Josh Hull was given the new ball from the other end as Crawley crunched him for a maximum to make his intentions clear. Crawley then smashed Hull for another boundary as he was looking on a roll. Malan complimented him really well hitting Payne for a maximum and followed that up with a boundary.
Chris Green was introduced into the attack and bowled a decent set. Riley Meredith was greeted with a maximum from Malan before Josh Hull dropped him at short third man. Crawley then crunched Meredith for the maximum as Northern Superchargers reached 52/0 at the end of the 25 balls of powerplay. Paul Walter came into the attack after the powerplay.
Crawley crunched Walter away for a boundary as he looked literally unstoppable in the middle. Malan survived a LBW appeal against Chris Green as he got an inside edge. The fielding team burnt their review. Crawley once again whipped Green away for another boundary. Luke Wells was introduced into the attack by the maximum from Crawley. Malan joined in the party from time to time as he hit a boundary off Walter.
Saif Zaib came into the attack next and almost got rid of Zak Crawley but the ball did not carry to Meredith at short third man. After 50 balls at the halfway stage, Northern Superchargers were 90/0. Meredith finally broke the opening stand getting rid of Dawid Malan for 41 off 29 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Meredith bowled it full and wide outside off with pace off the ball, Malan shuffled across and went for the heave across the line. He failed to read the change in pace and got the top edge that went high in the air. Payne settled underneath it at the edge of the circle at short third man and took the catch. Michael Pepper came out to bat next.
Lots of wides were sprayed around as Meredith ended the set. Crawley was given a reprieve as Walter dropped him off Hull at mid-on. Soon, the 100 came up for Superchargers in 60 balls. Meredith struck again as he dismissed Pepper for 4 off 7 balls. Meredith bowled fuller length on off-stump nipping back in sharply. Pepper was late on the push and got beaten on the inside edge. He got struck on the back pad. He was given OUT. He reviewed in hope and saw all three reds to burn the review. Captain Harry Brook came out to bat next.
Brook made his intentions clear as he hit a maximum off Meredith to get off the mark. Chris Green bowled a tight set where Crawley once again survived a loud LBW appeal. Crawley then got to his half-century in style with a maximum over long-off as he got there in 29 balls. Then Harry Brook got a reprieve as Saif Zaib dropped a sitter at deep midwicket. Meredith bowled a decent set to end his spell.
Crawley got a boundary through the outside edge while Harry Brook hit Payne for a boundary and maximum as the captain was in a hurry to finish things off. It was fitting that Zak Crawley hit the winning runs and he did by hitting Green for a boundary through sweeper cover to finish the game with 11 balls to spare. Crawley remained unbeaten on 67 off 38 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes to his name while Harry Brook remained unbeaten on 25 off 15 balls with a boundary and 2 sixes to his name. 10 extras given by the fielding side as this was done and dusted with the home team winning by 8 wickets.
Only Riley Meredith got success with a couple of wickets as he finished with 2/33 in 20 balls. The rest of the bowlers remained wicketless and could not control the run flow at all. So, a win by 8 wickets for Superchargers and for his brilliant innings, Zak Crawley was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
Hundred 2025 action continues thick and fast as the bandwagon moves to Edgbaston in Birmingham for tonight’s clash. It is Birmingham Phoenix taking on Trent Rockets live at 11 PM IST. It will be a first look at both teams this seasons. Lots of action coming your way as the Hundred action comes thick and fast for all of us. We have seen 6 teams in action so far and the last two will be in action tonight.
Will the home side start with a win? Only time will tell.
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