ASA Tribe finished unbeaten alongside England star Phil Salt as the Welsh Fire beat the Southern Brave by 6 wickets in The Hundred last night at the Utilita Bowl.
In their opening game of The Hundred 2026, the Welsh Fire made a winning start away from home against the inaugural winners of the competition.
The Southern Brave, who won the first edition of The Hundred in 2021, had South African overseas veteran David Miller to thank for their eventual team total of 135-7 from their allotted 100 deliveries.
Miller finished on 44 from 35 balls, with 18-year-old Thomas Rew also impressing with 41 from 30 balls.
But the Fire’s bowling attack dominated the show. The new ball attack of Chris Woakes and Sam Cook were in excellent form, backed up by the economical sets of off-spinners Matt Short and Joe Root.
Fellow SA overseas Marco Jansen finished with the pick of the figures, claiming 2 for 17 from his 20 deliveries, which included ten dot balls and conceded just one boundary.
After some late fireworks from Miller for the Brave, the Fire’s response with the bat started brightly.
Short made a brisk 20 before holing out to Chris Jordan at mid-off, and Joe Root played some nice strokes before a calamitous mix up with Salt led to his run out for 15.
Kiwi overseas Rachin Ravindra took some pressure off skipper Salt with 24 from 16, but he held out to deep mid-wicket off Nikhil Chaudhary’s leg-spin. He would them remove the dangerous Jordan Cox for just 6 soon after, creaking the door open a touch for the Brave.
Asa Tribe’s introduction came with his side needing 19 runs from 20 deliveries. After initially struggling a touch to 6 from 10 deliveries, the Jerseyman struck a crucial boundary over mid-wicket off England veteran Chris Jordan from the first ball of the final set, before handing over the reigns to Salt to finish the game with a flurry.
To access the full scorecard, click the link; https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/e-236001
The Welsh Fire Men are next back in action on Saturday at Sophie Gardens in Cardiff against MI London – set for a 6pm start – before they then welcome 2022 winners Trent Rockets to Cardiff on Wednesday afternoon.
