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Following a nine-wicket victory against Manchester Originals, Birmingham Phoenix will take on Southern Brave in The Hundred Eliminator at The Kia Oval on Saturday.
After rain postponed the start, Moeen Ali’s team prevailed in a 30-ball-per-side encounter at Edgbaston, earning themselves the necessary point.
With Fazalhaq Farooqi hitting the boundary twice in the first five balls, Jamie Smith set the tone for Phoenix’s easy chase of their target of 42 runs.
Ben Duckett struck six off Tom Aspinwall’s opening ball after Farooqi had bowled a more subdued second five. As the rain continued to pour in Birmingham, the umpires remained in place, intent on seeing the match through to the end.
Sikandar Raza caught Smith (14) on the cover boundary off Scott Currie, but Duckett (22*) and Moeen (6*) scored the final seven runs needed with eight balls remaining. The captain then wrapped up the victory with a six off Currie over fine-leg.
After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, Birmingham Phoenix struck quickly. The young Lancastrian Matthew Hurst missed a chance to be bowled to Liam Livingstone at mid-on in the second legal ball of the match, and Kiwi speedster Adam Milne removed him.
After winning the second set, Phil Salt quickly crushed Tim Southee, Milne’s countryman, into the stands. The Originals increased their lead to 15 for 1 when Max Holden sliced him over short-third on the last ball of the powerplay.
The Originals were down 22 for 2 at halftime of the innings after Salt (12) misplayed a cross-bat shot off Milne on the 15th delivery of the innings, giving Livingstone his second catch of the night.
Phoenix easily overcame their 42-point deficit to secure a ticket to South London, guaranteeing that Andrew Flintoff’s debut season as head coach of the Northern Superchargers would conclude in fourth place.
Match Hero Milne, who took 2 for 8, said: “To come out of the shortened game and into The Hundred Eliminator is very good for us.
“There was a little bit of swing and seam so it was nice to use that first up, but in these shortened games anything can happen, so [you] just mix it up.
“Anytime it’s moving around off the straight it’s nice. There’s been lots said but as a bowler it’s nice to have a little bit going your way sometimes in these shorter formats, there can be flat wickets and not much movement, so it’s nice to see a bit of swing and seam occasionally.”