Trent Rockets handed Welsh Fire a first defeat of the season in The Hundred in a one-sided affair at Sophia Gardens.
The visitors chased down a below-par target of 123 with 28 balls to spare, Ben Duckett seeing the Rockets to victory with an unbeaten 52.
The start of the Rockets’ chase was not fluent by any means but the Fire bowlers were sloppy, giving away four free-hits in the powerplay and seven in total.
Duckett faced the first four, only finding the boundary once, but he and Finn Allen (33) still managed to move the visitors onto 42-0 after 25 balls with little cause for concern.
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Welsh Fire’s Joe Root was bowled by Matt Henry after a failed attempt at a scoop shot in the match against Trent Rockets
The explosive Allen began to accelerate, taking 17 runs off Sam Cook’s first five. He and Duckett cruised along against an uninspired Fire attack, taking the score to 75 before Allen fell lbw to fellow Kiwi Rachin Ravindra for 33.
Duckett, joined by Tom Banton (31), continued on his merry way, bringing up a second half-century in as many games, this time from 42 balls, as the Rockets made it two wins from three.
Hosts Fire had earlier ended their batting powerplay on 26-2, having been asked to bat first. They lost Phil Salt and Joe Root for five runs apiece to the seam of Matt Henry (2-16), the latter failing to connect with a ramp.
After reaching 59-2 at halfway, the Fire looked to push on, but proceeded to lose three wickets in the next 14 balls, including the set Matt Short for 36 from 26.
Jordan Cox (33) countered by launching Mitchell Santner’s left-arm spin for three consecutive sixes, but perished going for a fourth, spectacularly caught on the cover boundary by a diving Allen.
Fire then limped to 122-7 with Asa Tribe (13no) and Chris Woakes (4no) failing to find the boundary off Mohammad Amir and Lewis Gregory in the closing stages of the innings.
Their target would prove easily surpassable by Trent Rockets, who moved up to second in the table with their second win from three games.
‘The bowlers take credit for the win’
Ben Duckett credited the bowling attack for the win (ECB Images)
Meerkat Match Hero – Ben Duckett – on Sky Sports Cricket:
“The bowlers were superb. Coming here, we spoke about adapting to the pitch as early as you can. They take massive credit for this win.
“My aim was to try and get through the powerplay and then it might actually become easier. It’s made a lot easier when you’ve got Finn Allen at the other end whacking it.
“Four free-hits really help as well, but, to be honest, I really struggled to find rhythm throughout that whole innings. I’m pretty sure everyone saw that. Finn played beautifully and Bants came in and took all the pressure off me.
What’s next in The Hundred?
Southern Brave host Birmingham Phoenix on Thursday, live on Sky Sports, with the women’s match at 3pm followed by the men’s fixture at 6.30pm. Watch The Hundred and more contract-free on NOW
