Trent Rockets men have gone top of the table with a win against winless Welsh Fire and now the Nottingham based team must wait for the result of London Spirit v Birmingham Phoenix tonight to see if they progress directly or not, into Saturday’s Hundred final at Lords.
Rockets guaranteed themselves at least a playoff spot and must hope for a favour from Birmingham to see them through straight into Saturday’s showpiece at the home of cricket, should the Spirit come out on top against the Phoenix instead, it will likely, like last year, be an eliminator match for Trent ahead of the final.
The Rockets last night launched themselves to a huge tally of 172 (for four) thanks largely to an opening stand of 89 between Dawid Malan (58) and Alex Hales (38) with Kohler Cadmore (10), Sams (31) and Munro (22) all playing their part with a couple late on for skipper Lewis Gregory.
In response, Welsh Fire fell 29 short losing six wickets in the process as Sam Cook, Samit Patel and Tabraiz Shamsi took two each for their collection. A 55 from Matthew Critchley not enough to save the Fire from burning to a bottom place finish in the table, with 8 losses from 8 games.
In the Women’s Hundred, Trent Rockets also beat Welsh Fire in the earlier match at a packed Trent Bridge to give themselves a slim chance of a playoff slot ahead of finals day this coming weekend. The Rockets restricted their opponents to a run a ball 100 for 8 with two wickets each for Bryony Smith, Katherine Brunt and Natalie Sciver, in response surpassing their opponents tally in 82 balls thanks to a 55 not out from captain Elyse Villani. Mignon du Preez also not out with 32 as Trent reached 102/2.
Having played all their six games, the Rockets are currently third occupying the last slot in the table for a playoff place but they could lose that should Birmingham beat London today, or should Manchester Invincibles or Northern Superchargers win by posting a big score. They play each other on Wednesday where we’ll find out who’ll be heading south to the capital in search of silverware.
*Main image @TrentBridge Samit Patel celebrates with Tom Moores.
