The Curran brothers mounted a strong fightback for Oval Invincibles but Kane Richardson and Tom Helm proved their class with the ball to secure the win for Birmingham Phoenix; watch every match from The Hundred this summer live on Sky Sports
Last Updated: 23/08/22 9:59pm
Kane Richardson took two successive wickets as Birmingham Phoenix sealed a tight win to move into third
Kane Richardson struck twice in as many balls to seal a crucial Birmingham Phoenix success as they overcame Oval Invincibles by 10 runs to climb to third in the men’s Hundred table.
Birmingham Phoenix win!
Oval Invincibles 156-8 off 100 balls:
Roy (21 off 19 balls), Cox (32 off 29 balls), S. Curran (30 off 20 balls), Billings (0 off 1 ball), T. Curran (30 off 11 balls) ; Richardson (22-3 from 20 balls), Helm (11-3 from 20 balls)
Birmingham Phoenix 166-6 off 100 balls:
Smeed (23 off 13 balls), Hammond (17 off 11 balls), Ali (42 off 25 balls), Livingstone (45 off 32 balls); Narine (21-2 from 20 balls), Milnes (32-3 from 20 balls)
Story of the match
Richardson, who removed Jordan Cox and Invincibles captain Sam Billings with successive deliveries, finished with 3-22 at the Kia Oval, while fellow seamer Tom Helm claimed an impressive three for 11 off 20 balls.
Those performances underpinned the Phoenix victory despite the best efforts of the Curran brothers, with both Sam and Tom clattering a flurry of sixes even as their side fell short on 156-8.
Earlier, Liam Livingstone (45 from 32) and Moeen Ali (42 from 25) led the way as the visitors posted 166-6, with their bowlers ensuring that proved to be a winning total.
Tom Helm produced a match-winning over to dismiss the Curran brothers and help seal the win for Birmingham Phoenix
Having endured a lean run in three innings since his unbeaten century against Southern Brave, big-hitting opener Will Smeed appeared to be back on track after Phoenix were put in.
Smeed thrashed 23, including two sixes, as he face all of the first 13 deliveries of the innings but was undone when he misjudged a pull off Mohammad Hasnain and Sam Curran back-pedalled at mid-on to clasp the catch.
Moeen took over the baton with relish, compiling a 25-ball knock that contained four cleanly-struck maximums, including one off Sunil Narine who otherwise bowled tightly to finish with two for 21.
Narine had the last word, persuading the Phoenix skipper to hole out following his 69-run stand with Livingstone – who began in sedate fashion before bursting into destructive mode against Sam Curran.
Liam Livingstone was in fine form with the bat
Livingstone dispatched the left-armer over the leg-side boundary three times in four deliveries, but he missed out on a second half-century of the tournament when he skied Matt Milnes (three for 32) into the hands of long-on.
The Invincibles suffered a swift double blow as they slid to 11 for two in reply, with Will Jacks trapped lbw by Richardson – and using up a review in the process – before Rilee Roussouw perished to Smeed’s superbly-judged diving catch on the leg side.
Meanwhile, the out-of-form Jason Roy rode his luck, flicking one to backward square where Imran Tahir failed to hang on and then edging Richardson onto the stumps so that the bails lit up – yet stubbornly refused to fall.
But Roy (21 from 19) was unable to take full advantage, hooking Henry Brookes down the throat of deep square leg, and the Invincibles appeared to be floundering – although Cox (32 from 29) and Sam Curran (30 from 20) kept their
hopes alive.
Richardson’s yorker dismissed Cox and Billings was lbw first ball, but Tom Curran smashed 30 from just 12 deliveries before Helm had him caught on the boundary as Phoenix closed out the game.
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Hero of the game, Kane Richardson (22-3 from 20 balls)
Richardson said: “It is always nice to win and that is a tough ground to defend on to be honest.
“Feedback at halfway was there was pace and bounce in the wicket but the way we shut it down when they were coming pretty hard at the end there…. was nice.
“Tom Helm that over he was pretty class, the Curran boys were coming and to get them both out is match-winning.
“They came as hard as we knew they would so it was a great win.”
What they said
Birmingham Phoenix captain Moeen Ali said: “We felt we were a little under par actually, we just couldn’t get going.
“But I thought we bowled really, really well tonight, the seamers were fantastic.
“You have some sort of plan but a lot of the time it is gut feel and you try and see who is the best bowler to bowl at that time.
“I think when you have games like that and you defend once, twice or three times you get a lot of confidence going forward.
“It was a huge win tonight. With the standard of the teams in this competition, every match is tough.”
What’s next?
Next up in The Hundred is a double-header at Lord’s as London Spirit welcome Welsh Fire. The women’s fixture will get under way at 3pm before the men’s match starts at 6.30pm.
Spirit vs Welsh Fire
August 24, 2022, 2:30pm
Live on 
Spirit vs Welsh Fire
August 24, 2022, 6:00pm
Live on
For the Invincibles, they also have a visit to Lord’s next up on Saturday, with the women’s match at 3.30pm and the men’s at 7pm.
Birmingham Phoenix are then in action on Sunday as they face Manchester Originals on their home turf (same timings as above).
Watch every match from The Hundred this summer live on Sky Sports.
Tickets for The Hundred are selling fast! If you want to be part of the action, go to thehundred.com/tickets