Men’s Hundred | Bairstow's fifty combined with Payne-Rauf's two-wicket haul clinches victory for Welsh Fire

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Welsh Fire beat Trent Rockets by four runs in a thrilling encounter at Trent Bridge. Batting brilliance from Jonny Bairstow and Tom Abell took the Welsh side to 129/6 whereas Trent Rockets batting failed in the middle and lower order as Haris Rauf and David Payne’s bowling sealed Welsh’s victory.

‌After losing a thriller in the last game, Trent Rockets skipper Lewis Gregory won the toss and opted to field against Welsh Fire. The decision paid off as Luke Wood managed to scalp Luke Wells on the second delivery. The woes compounded for Welsh when Imad Wasim got rid of Joe Clarke in the third set. However, Jonny Bairstow steadied the Welsh batting alongside Tom Abell taking the scorecard to 66/2 in 50 deliveries. The duo stabilized the batting and built an 80-run stand, with Welsh tallying at 89/2 after the 14th set. With a six off Rashid Khan’s 72nd delivery, Bairstow scored his half-century in 43 deliveries. Unfortunately, Bairstow’s 55 off 45 was put to an end by Imad on the 76th bringing Glenn Phillips to the crease. The Trent side slowly swung the momentum in their favour by controlling the Welsh run flow with Joe Root scalping Abell on the 81st delivery. Ultimately, with a great bowling comeback from the Rockets picking two wickets in the 19th and 20th sets and restricting  Welsh Fire to129/6.

In response, the Trent Rockets got off to a solid start as openers Tom Banton and Alex Hales took the scorecard to 32/0 in 25 deliveries. However, Mason Crane broke the opening stand and dismissed Banton on the 28th delivery. Additionally, the in-form Hales was dismissed by Wells on the 36th with the scorecard at 55/2 in 40 deliveries. Unlike his batting carnage in the last match, Joe Root struggled to score big as Welsh spinners stabilized Trent’s run flow. However, Root and Saim Hain continued to take singles and doubles as Trent required 62 off 45 deliveries. With Root’s departure in the 12th set, things looked tense for the Rockets as Rovman Powell walked into bat joining Hain. With 94/3 after 75 deliveries, the duo was slowly paving the way for their victory, with Powell taking charge. Unfortunately, his innings was cut short by Haris Rauf on the 77th delivery as Trent required 36 runs off 23 deliveries. Ultimately, David Payne and Haris Rauf’s brilliant bowling at the death scalping four wickets, sealed the victory for Welsh. The Fire won the contest by four runs as Trent Rockets' batting collapsed towards the end.

Won the thriller

Good stuff

Well bowled

What a clash!

Superb numbers

Well played

What a performance

Lightning fast

Back in form

Dismissed

 

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