Bracewell, du Plooy humble Phoenix to maintain Brave's perfect start

Southern Brave cruised to a nine-wicket victory and sealed their second win of the season in The Hundred, making it a double for both women's and men's teams over Birmingham Phoenix at Utilita Bowl on Sunday.

Brave won the toss and chose to bowl, which looked to be a good decision early on, with Phoenix struggling to get the ball away and score freely. Facing 90mph bowling from Jofra Archer, who was sporting a Brave bucket-hat when not charging in, Joe Clarke was the only Birmingham batter to offer some resistance with 36 from 27 balls.

Archer finished with 2 for 16 from his 20, with Michael Bracewell taking the starring role with his off-spin on a tricky pitch claiming three wickets for 16 runs from 15 balls. Phoenix finished on a below par 106 for 7.

Southern Brave opened with the right-hand, left-hand combination of James Vince and Leus Du Plooy and the pair rarely looked troubled, rotating the strike and picking up boundaries.

Although Brave finished the powerplay on the same score as Phoenix, they had the time to build through their innings, which Vince capitalised on and passed the milestone of 1,000 runs in The Hundred in the process - the third player to do so this season, after Nat Sciver-Brunt and Phil Salt.

When Vince was caught behind for 41 only 32 runs were needed, and Du Plooy, top-scoring with 48 from 39, and Jason Roy saw Brave home for a comfortable win.

Meerkat Match Hero Bracewell said: "Two from two and more of a complete performance. We played some great cricket and it is nice to get another win. We spoke as a spin group about how to bowl. There are big boundaries here which is nice.

"The Hundred is fantastic, the crowds are amazing. Cricket has a long history here in England so it is great to be here. The weather is not what I was expecting, but I'll certainly take it. It's a beautiful day and we're happy with the result."