it's all academic, but Curran's yorker is good enough, middle-and-leg line, squeezed for a futile single
Invincibles vs Fire, 6th Match at Cardiff, Men's Hundred, Jul 28 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary
9.32pm That'll do for tonight. It was a low-scoring dogfight, but the defending champions take the plaudits. Goodnight!
Sam Billings "As a team we'll take a lot from that, front-loaded with seam, keeping it tight, knowing we had Zampa and Sowter. Hard pitch to start on so getting inner ring fielders tight. Like the London Spirit game last year, Sammy Curran wanted to bowl a bouncer. Slowing the game down, giving people clarity."
DaWolf: "Excellent partnership, but the slow bowling of the specialist batters meant that even a late tail wag wasn't enough. Great bowling from both sides."
Craig: "Eliminator spots look beyond reach for Fire with that batting line up. Bairstow or bust!"
9.22pm Connection crashed at the crucial moment, but ho hum. Invincibles have defended an extraordinarily low target of 114. Remarkable scenes.
Adam Zampa is the Meerkat Match Hero: "Exciting to watch the way we started with the ball, and Sowter through the middle. We needed to navigate 40 balls of legspin, a bit different tonight, less pace in the wicket, hard to score throughout the game."
low full toss, huge swing, but doesn't get hold of it. Malan at cover pockets a scuffed offering, off the top edge
smashed down the ground, long-off intercepts, they are back for two, but it's sixes or bust.
too far outside off, and given as a wide! 14 off three still needed
full length, huge swing, a fat outside edge, that'll help the cause!
looks for the ramp, can't connect.
full, fast, beats the outside edge, super bowling. And he'll bowl the final set too
follows his man with a well-directed short ball, pace off, swatted off the eyebrows, out to deep midwicket
pace off again, clawed out to deep midwicket
clipped out to deep midwicket, Lammonby picks it up with one hand, unleashes a flat shy, Billings fumbles with the batter at his mercy! Gosh
pace off, into the wicket, lures a huge wipe across the line... dropped at long-on, rushing in!
Back comes Curran for a key death set ... or two, conceivably
Johnson is done, but his first three sets set the tone
full, so close to the off stump, gave himself room and couldn't reach it
makes room to leg, edged fine! That was an optimistic slap but it did the needful, beating a despairing dive from deep third!
full, flicked off the pads out to the deep, just the single
There is a pulse. Two more of those and we have a chase
huge launch over the leg-side! Big boundaries out there but that's massive, hitting with venom up into the bouncer, looking for distance first and foremost!
huge wind-up, under-edged into the leg-side
huge launch through the line, into the river it goes! Zampa's figures take a late battering, but what a bowler he is
hard flog through the line, down to long-off
slog-sweep, no power through the stroke, "spin, spin" is the cry as the fielder rushes in to deal with the ball
skids through outside off, Crane flashes it through deep third for a rare boundary