The Hundred men’s competition, Sophia Gardens
Southern Brave 115-8 (100 balls): Stoinis 55 (39); Cook 3-14
Welsh Fire 116-4 (95 balls): Short 60* (41); Archer 2-19
Welsh Fire won by six wickets
Welsh Fire claimed their fourth win in five matches in this season’s Hundred as a well-crafted half-century from Matt Short helped them defeat Southern Brave by six wickets in Cardiff.
Chasing 116, the home side lost captain Phil Salt early but a 56-run stand between Joe Root and Short provided them the platform to win on a tricky surface at Sophia Gardens.
Chris Jordan dismissed Root for 17 before Rachin Ravindra followed him for a duck to hand Brave hope of a way back into the contest.
Jordan Cox became the third Fire wicket to fall in the space of 10 runs but Short’s composed innings ensured there was no collapse.
Still requiring more than a run a ball, Short scooped Jofra Archer for six to bring up his fifty from 37 balls before combining with Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who hit an unbeaten 23, to guide Fire over the line with five balls remaining.
Earlier, Brave endured a nightmare start after they were sent out to bat first as openers Jamie Smith and Ben McKinney were dismissed without opening their accounts.
With wickets falling around him regularly, Marcus Stoinis proved Brave’s lone source of resistance against the Fire bowlers as the Australian all-rounder struck 55 from 39 balls before falling to Sam Cook, who returned figures of 3-14.
Nikhil Chaudhary struggled for his 18 and David Miller added 21 from 17 balls late on but no other Brave batter reached double figures as the visitors limped to 115-8.
While Fire moved level on 16 points with Trent Rockets at the top of the table, Brave remain fourth, with two wins, having played six matches.
