Eskinazi's ferocious 43 sees Fire make light of run chase

Welsh Fire asserted their authority on the 2023 Men's Hundred by thrashing Birmingham Phoenix by six wickets at Edgbaston.

There is a real feeling around the Fire camp that, for the first time, they can mount a challenge in this year's tournament and their dismantling of Phoenix certainly backed up that view.

Phoenix chose to bat but mustered only 112 for 7, never shedding the shackles of a focused and fired up Fire attack. David Payne led the way with excellent sets early and late on to finish with 2 for 11 while strong support was lent by Roelof van der Merwe with 2 for 16 and Haris Rauf's 2 for 20.

Phoenix's limp effort with the bat left them needing something dynamic with the ball but Fire blazed to 116 for 4 from 85 balls after Stephen Eskinazi launched their reply with a ferocious 18-ball 43. They charged to 50 without loss in 21 balls and never looked back.

Phoenix found their early batting progress impeded by the skills of van der Merwe. The left-arm spinner removed Will Smeed, who sent up a skier, and Ben Duckett, caught at short fine leg.

After Jamie Smith was bowled by an express yorker from Rauf, van der Merwe found himself under a top-edged hoik from Moeen Ali and held on at the third attempt.

Fire bowled with pace and purpose, encapsulated by the rapid, full-length delivery which eluded a crude attempt by Liam Livingstone to land one among the spectators in the Hollies Stand. That usually raucous throng was as subdued as could be and a cadaverous haul of just six runs from the last ten balls, skilfully delivered by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Payne, did nothing to lift the noise levels.

Blaze took their momentum emphatically into the batting as Eskinazi improvised magnificently. He smashed, scooped, skewered and squeezed the ball to all areas on the way to 43 in an opening stand of 67 in 32 balls with Joe Clarke.

A crumb of hope came the home side's way when Benny Howell removed both openers in five balls. When Luke Wells fell lbw, reverse sweeping Moeen Ali, three wickets had fallen for six runs in ten balls, but Fire's fine work in the field had earned them the luxury of withstanding a wobble.

Tom Abell's 23 not out from 18 balls saw the visitors home at a canter leaving the Hollies Stand as flat as a pancake and a distinguished, sombrero-wearing, first-time visitor to the usually ebullient venue reflecting that the highlight of her day was a nap in the sunshine during the first innings.