Who won yesterday's The Hundred 2022 match, SOB vs WEF - Match 1?
The opening game of the second edition of The Hundred took place between the defending champions, Southern Brave and Welsh Fire at The Rose Bowl, Southampton on Wednesday (August 3).
Southern Brave skipper James Vince won the toss and put the Welsh Fire in to bat first and the plan worked like a charm as they had their opponents reeling at 16-3.
With Clarke, Banton and Pope back in the hut, Fire needed a breakthrough, which came in the form of Ben Duckett and Sam Hain. Just when Fire were finding their feet back in the game, they began to lose wickets in succession. The side were forced on the back foot every time they tried to get back into the contest.
It was Craig Overton that caused early destruction for Fire. He bowled 11 dot balls and scalped two wickets in the game. Michael Hogan and James Fuller were even better as they conceded just 0.7 per ball, which meant Fire were always struggling to find momentum.
Welsh Fire eventually settled for a below-par score, having lost seven wickets and needed their bowling to step up to prevent Southern Brave from reaching that target.
Southern Brave started the chase at a brisk pace as James Vince was in a real hurry to finish things off. A 71-run stand pretty much shut the doors for the Welsh Fire but they eventually get the wicket of Alex Davies who was playing the second fiddle to James Vince.
Vince clobbered eight boundaries and a solitary maximum and then went on to seal the game with 31 deliveries to spare.
Welsh Fire weren’t left with too many options in the chase. As they didn’t have runs on the board, they needed to strike early with the ball, which they failed to do.
The defending champions showing once again why they are still the team to beat. They have started off the season in grand fashion and have put out a statement to other teams to be wary about them.
Southern Brave sit tight with a hefty net-run rate at the top of the table
With that win, Southern Brave once again start off the season on a bright note and Welsh Fire have plenty to ponder. It's still early days though and the teams can pick themselves up to come back stronger.
Welsh Fire will need to look into how they can start strong with the bat and then carry on the momentum to finish well. Their bowling unit will then be able to defend whatever the batters have managed.