THE HUNDRED MENS COMPETITION 2025
Rehan Ahmed put on a show with both bat and ball. © Getty
Trent Rockets won their final league game and ended the league stage of The Hundred level on points with the Oval Invincibles with the latter pipping the Rockets on net run-rate. Rehan Ahmed’s all-round show of 3 for 15 in his four restricted the Birmingham Phoenix to 113/9 before he played a handy knock of 37 off 23 to take the Rockets to victory at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
Put in to bat, the Phoenix had a steady start with Ben Duckett and Will Smeed putting on 36 runs together. Duckett scored consecutive boundaries off Ben Sanderson through the offside. The southpaw continued his early momentum with a wristy flick through mid-on for four before Smeed pulled a bouncer into the stands.
It was Lockie Ferguson who struck first for the Rockets with the wicket of Duckett, and once the opening stand was broken, Phoenix’s innings fell apart. From 36/1, the Phoenix stuttered in the middle overs with the spin twins George Linde and Rehan picking up regular wickets. Phoenix lost six wickets for 36 runs as they slipped to 72/6 with the likes of Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell dismissed cheaply. The tail continued to fall with even Joe Root getting amongst the wickets but Dan Mousley (26 off 25) guided the Phoenix to 113 for 9.
The chase wasn’t as simple as the Rockets would have liked with Tom Banton’s dismissal dealing an early blow. The Rockets were suddenly 2/1 off nine balls but Root and Rehan raised a 64-run stand in 40 balls. Rehan hit consecutive boundaries off Trent Boult while Root did the same off Liam Patterson-White. Rehan continued to force the issue with a six over deep mid-wicket before adding to the Phoenix’s misery with some unorthodox shots to the fence. He fell holing out to mid-wicket after hitting a slog-sweep in the air.
Despite the equation being run-a-ball when Rehan fell, the Rockets’ middle-order struggled just like Phoenix’s did with Root bowled off a reverse sweep. Patterson-White picked up his second with the wicket of David Willey a few balls later while Linde was run-out as the Rockets continued to stumble. Marcus Stonis and Sam Hain added a boundary each but scored at a run-a-ball as the pressure continued to build for the hosts. But it was Ben Cox who played a crucial 12-ball 17 to seal the win for the hosts with a ball to spare as they gear up for the Eliminator against Northern Superchargers.
Brief Scores: Birmingham Phoenix 111/9 in 100 balls (Dan Mousley 26, Will Smeed 23; Rehan Ahmed 3-15, George Linde 2-12) lost to Trent Rockets 113/7 in 99 balls (Rehan Ahmed 37, Joe Root 25; Jacob Bethell 2-22, Liam Patterson-White 2-25) by three wickets
© Cricbuzz
