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In an exciting match at a boisterous Trent Bridge in The Hundred, Welsh Fire defeated Trent Rockets, with Jonny Bairstow defeating long-time teammate Joe Root in the battle of the England superstars.
For the majority of the game, Rockets seemed to be the favourites, but in the thrilling final seconds, Fire’s numerous outstanding outfield catches turned the tide in their favour. The match was won by four runs after a composed final set by David Payne and Haris Rauf.
Rashid Khan, the first of the four wickets to go, became the second Rockets batter to be run out in the thrilling climax, which saw four wickets fall in the final ten balls. Root had previously been removed for 17 in a hilarious fashion thanks to a stunning throw from Joe Clarke at backward point.
Sam Hain was implicated in both mishaps, and while he was still undefeated in the end, his 26-ball 22 was insufficient to win.
Fire was chosen to bat first, and Bairstow looked the most comfortable of all the batsmen on display. In a game where the spinners dominated, his 45-ball 55 proved to be the game-winning blow.
Fire fought for every run they could scavenge on a field taking significant spin, and his match against Root, who bowled a sequence of round-arm off-breaks from behind the wicket, going for just 19 runs from his 20-ball quota, was one of many subplots.
Their 129 for 6 was a respectable total, but the Rockets appeared to be in charge as Root responded well to a fast start from Alex Hales and Tom Banton. Had they prevailed, they would have taken the lead in the standings; however, because of their incredible comeback, Fire has surged back into contention.
Bairstow said: “We’ve had a couple of close ones, it’s that kind of competition, and it’s bringing out different qualities in different players, especially the way our bowlers closed the game out, and the way that Abes [Tom Abell] captained – being brave at times when he needed to be.
“In the field if you can get two run outs, it’s always pretty handy. It’s two wickets that the bowlers don’t have to get, and the fielding was exemplary from all the boys. We’ve had a couple of defeats but nobody’s got too downbeat, everyone’s stayed pretty level, and we’ve spoken about going out and relishing he challenge.”
On his contest with his great friend, Root: “He bottled it didn’t he! He didn’t even chuck one up! I said to him before he came on, ‘It’s me or you here’ and next thing I see he’s bowling lower than Malinga!”