The Hundred men’s competition, Old Trafford
Welsh Fire 155-4 (100 balls): Short 71 (47), Salt 48 (37); Atkinson 2-12
Manchester Super Giants 161-1 (69 balls): Seifert 62* (36), Buttler 51* (20); Cook 1-20
Manchester Super Giants won by nine wickets
Jos Buttler became the all-time leading run-scorer in T20 cricket as Manchester Super Giants beat Welsh Fire by nine wickets in The Hundred.
The England white-ball great passed Kieron Pollard’s record of 14,803 at Old Trafford by launching the first of three consecutive sixes off Marco Jansen.
The 35-year-old finished with 51 from 20 balls, ending the match with back-to-back sixes down the ground off Lockie Ferguson.
Buttler hit two fours and six sixes, finishing alongside Tim Seifert, who struck 62 from 36 balls as Super Giants successfully reached their target of 156 with 31 balls to spare.
Cricket statisticians include The Hundred data in T20 records, meaning Buttler now has 14,833 runs in the shortest formats.
Fire captain Phil Salt made the uncommon decision to bat after winning the toss and put on an opening partnership of 125 with Matt Short.
Salt struck 48 from 37 while Short hit 71 from 47 deliveries, with the pair combining for a total of 11 fours and five sixes.
The partnership was finally broken when Salt was caught in the deep off Josh Tongue from the 83rd ball of the innings.
His wicket was the first of four lost for 13 runs, with Short caught at long-on off Paul Walter before Jordan Cox and Tom Kohler-Cadmore also found boundary fielders off Gus Atkinson, with Fire ultimately finishing on 155-4.
Super Giants started with a strong opening partnership of their own as Seifert and Paul Walter put on 74 from 35 balls.
Walter, playing in his first match of the tournament after Aiden Markram withdrew for personal reasons, hit 37 from 18 deliveries, including a run of five consecutive boundaries off Duan Jansen and Rachin Ravindra.
The home side managed to remove the towering opener when Ben Kellaway pulled off an excellent bit of fielding on the mid-wicket rope, throwing the ball up as he stepped over the rope and stepping back on the field to collect it.
Super Giants did not slow down and sealed a win that takes them into third, four points behind Fire in second.
