Southern Brave bowled out London Spirit for 105 thanks to figures of 4 for 9 from England’s top batsman Jofra Archer. The host team lost their final five wickets for just two runs as Brave set up a five-wicket victory at Lord’s to keep their season alive.
Marcus Stoinis extended his excellent campaign with the ball, finishing with 3 for 17 to increase his total to nine in four games and put himself at the top of the wicket-taking standings. Jonny Bairstow’s battling 56 was Spirit’s only noteworthy effort.
Bairstow struggled for fluency on a challenging field for a run-a-ball 25 as Spirit, inserted by Chris Jordan, reached 52 for 2 at halftime. Adil Rashid concluded with statistics of 2 for 17 after catching Liam Livingstone at deep cover to surpass Tymal Mills and become the greatest wicket-taker in the history of the Hundred men’s game.
After Bairstow completed his half-century off of 40 balls, the Spirit collapsed spectacularly, with Stoinis and Archer both scoring two runs in two balls to end the innings with eight balls remaining.
Brave were clear favourites with just 106 needed to win, but the chase wasn’t simple. Ben McKinney and Nikhil Chaudhary were dismissed early by David Willey, the former due to a first-ball duck. Jamie Smith dominated the early exchanges despite losing wickets, driving to 36 and hitting a maximum before being dismissed by James Coles.
Stoinis was run out at the non-striker’s end, leaving the score at 60 for 5 with 46 still needed from 48. Adam Zampa was economical down the middle and saw the back of Moeen Ali, who had joined the Brave team to replace the injured Thomas Rew.
Together, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs from South Africa gradually reduced the number of runs left. Miller cleared the ropes to end 39 not out as Brave reached home with three balls remaining.
For Brave, who are still very much in the running for a berth in the Eliminator, it was an important victory, but Spirit will need to do a lot more work before they can advance to the knockout stages.
“I’m happy that we got the win today,” stated Jofra Archer, the Meerkat Match Hero.
I had more than two wickets for the tournament for the first time. Everyone has been bowling effectively. Although we haven’t been taking many wickets, we have undoubtedly been reducing the number of runs.”
He continued, “You always think that it’s going to be an easy game, but we seem to always make it hard for ourselves,” in reference to chasing a tiny score.
