Southern Brave claimed their inaugural victory of The Hundred season, overcoming Birmingham Phoenix by 12 runs at the Utilita Bowl. The triumph lifted them from the base of the table to seventh place via net run-rate.
Defending a total of 128-8, the Brave bowlers excelled under pressure. With the visitors requiring 14 runs from the final set, Luke Wood delivered a brilliant performance, dismissing Ben Dwarshuis and Scott Currie with consecutive deliveries. Saqib Mahmood was subsequently run out, and the Brave allowed only a single run to finish the game at 116-9.
Wood concluded with figures of 3-24, while Marcus Stoinis took 2-16. Contributions from Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid also restricted the Phoenix lineup. Earlier, the Brave struggled to build momentum with the bat, despite 34 runs from Stoinis. Rehan Ahmed led the Phoenix bowling attack, claiming 3-25, but the home side’s late-innings effort proved sufficient to seal the result.
