James Vince stars again to take Southern Brave clear at the top
Captain bats through another innings unbeaten before Mills and Briggs extinguish Fire
ECB Media
05-Aug-2024
James Vince stands tall and drags leg-side • PA Images via Getty Images
Southern Brave 139 for 5 (Vince 73*) beat Welsh Fire 97 (Mills 4-16, Briggs 3-14) by 42 runs
Southern Brave made it four wins from five in the Hundred this year by thrashing Welsh Fire at Sophia Gardens.
James Vince's match-winning 73 from 50 balls in the first innings set Fire 140 to win, and the home side never threatened to reach the target. The Brave ended the night top of the table.
Jofra Archer missed his second game of the competition, with the ECB managing his workload closely, but the Brave cruised to victory regardless.
"It was nice to get the win," Vince said. "Batting first, we found it quite tricky. but at halfway you never quite know until both sides have batted. The way we bowled throughout, but particularly up front, was fantastic and proved it was reasonably tough out there."
The Fire won the toss and elected to field first, but the Brave's batters worked well in partnerships with Alex Davies, Leus du Plooy and Kieron Pollard all supporting the in-form Vince's superb 73 not out, which included seven fours and three sixes.
A Chris Jordan cameo in the final 10 balls featured a 98-metre six, before he fell to the last ball, skying David Payne and being well caught by David Willey.
Overseas quicks Haris Rauf (2 for 22) and Matt Henry (1 for 20) were the standout bowlers for Welsh Fire, with the home side hoping conditions under the lights might favour a big chase.
But Luke Wells and Jonny Bairstow struggled to get opening bowlers Akeal Hosein and Craig Overton away, with just 29 scored from the first 30 balls and the bowlers making life difficult with significant swing.
Both opening batters then fell in quick succession as the Brave took control, with Tymal Mills (4 for 16), Danny Briggs (3 for 14) and Jordan (2 for 19) running through the Fire's batting order to seal a very comfortable victory.
"Our bowlers have dovetailed really well: Akeal and Craig with the new ball and then CJ and Tymal through the back end," Vince said. "They've done it so many times and we are in nice rhythm at the minute. The bowlers have been fantastic and I think the batters did a good job on that pitch as well."