Southern Brave Edge Out Welsh Fire by a Whisker - A Nail-Biting 2-Run Triumph
Chris Jordan carried the Southern Brave on his shoulders with his all-round show (Source: Twitter)
The Rose Bowl stadium in Southampton witnessed a close encounter between Southern Brave and Welsh Fire where the Southern Brave defeated the Welsh Fire by a narrow margin of just 2 runs. The Southern Brave batting was looking down and out with 76-8 in 76 balls.
With 24 balls remaining it was looking tough for the Brave to comeback especially against a world class Welsh Fire bowling attack, but Chris Jordan had other plans and single handedly got the Southern Brave to a commendable total of 147 and ending his innings undefeated on 70.
On the other hand the Welsh Fire innings didn’t start well either as they also lost wickets at crucial moments and were stuck at 102-5 with 21 balls remaining and 46 runs to get. Despite a few batsmen who got good starts of 20-30 runs and a valiant efforts from David Willey and Ben Green to try and get their team over the line still fell short of just 2 runs.
Fireworks on the Field: Chris Jordan's Dominance Over Welsh Fire Bowlers
Chris Numbers against each opponent bowler
We all know that Chris Jordan is known for his bowling but in some instances he has shown some ability with the bat as a tail ender who can bat a bit. In this match he had exceeded those expectations with one of the best innings in the league so far.
His 70 runs from 32 balls included 3 fours and 7 big sixes that changed the course of the game when the southern Brave were struggling. This innings caught the Welsh Fire bowlers by surprise when he began targeting almost every bowler.
The bowler who he targeted the most was Roelof Van der Merwe against whom he scored 24 of the 9 balls he faced, striking him at 266.6. David Willey who didn’t have the best of days on the field also faced the onslaught of Jordan where he scored 18 runs off 4 deliveries scoring at a massive strike rate of 450.
It was also surprising to see him attack Haris Rauf who is not only one of the fastest bowlers in the Welsh Fire team but also the best bowler in the match scoring 14 off the 6 balls he faced at a strike rate of 233.3.
The only bowler he couldn’t dominate was Shaheen Afridi who was the most economical bowler for Welsh Fire and against whom he could only score 6 out of the 7 deliveries he faced striking at only 85.71. These stats indicate that this was a fearless and crucial knock needed for the Southern Brave to reach a total for their bowlers to defend.
Conclusion
Overall it was another thriller which we witnessed in the third season of this Hundred Mens competition where there is not a lot of comparison made between the two teams. We all can say that the 71 runs in the last 21 deliveries which involved Chris Jordan being demolishing almost every bowler he faced or the failure of the top order of Welsh Fire who failed.
In conclusion this was a close encounter that had a lot of twists and turns where the Welsh Fire failed in the most crucial moments in the game that did not only cost them the game but a heartbreaking loss where their bowling department went for runs in the last 20 balls and their top order threw away good starts.
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