Dawid Malan hits half-century as Northern Superchargers ease to Hundred win

Independent

2 days ago

Dawid Malan hit a half-century as Northern Superchargers made it back-to-back wins in The Hundred with a dominant 36-run victory over Birmingham Phoenix at Headingley.
Zak Crawley dominated the strike early on as he clocked up 45 runs – from a hit including six fours and two maximums – before being stumped by Joe Clarke off the bowling of Liam Livingstone.
Fellow opener Malan then achieved a well-earned half-century, finishing with a knock of 58 from 34 balls.
Harry Brook was cheered by the crowd by the home fans on his way to the middle and his quick-fire score of 31 – and Michael Pepper's 28 – propelled the hosts to 193 for five as they recorded the highest total in the competition over the last two seasons.
Birmingham's run chase got off to a slow start, Will Smeed was out with the third ball, while Matthew Potts dismissed both Ben Duckett and Clarke, with the visitors reeling on 27 for three.
Jacob Bethell was earlier named England's youngest ever T20 captain for their upcoming tour of Ireland and he rifled 48 from 23 balls alongside Livingstone's 46.
But they both fell victim to Adil Rashid as Phoenix started to lose wickets at speed and fell way short of their target as they could only reach 157 for nine in reply.
Earlier, Phoebe Litchfield blasted a half-century to help the women's Superchargers easily chase down Birmingham Phoenix's target of 116.
The Phoenix elected to bat first on what looked to be a batting-friendly wicket and despite getting off to a decent start, they lost wickets at regular intervals to stop them posting a damaging score.
Georgia Voll and Marie Kelly hit seven fours between them but were both bowled by Linsey Smith, while Amy Jones fell for one before Ellyse Perry was caught of her crease when a shot brushed the hands of Annabel Sutherland and hit the stumps as they were reduced to 75 for five.
Sterre Kalis (24) and Em Arlott (32 not out) came together and put 57 runs on the board to help the away side post 116 for six at the halfway point.
In reply, Davina Perrin and Alice Davidson-Richards came steady out of the blocks but they were dismissed by Arlott and Millie Taylor respectively as Birmingham looked to limit their opponents.
But the game was soon over as a contest when Litchfield came to the crease and she hit 59 from 28 balls to guide her side to victory with 26 balls to spare.