Trent Rockets vs Southern Brave, Trent Bridge
Southern Brave 126/8 in 100 balls (Whiteley 39*; de Lange 5-20) lost to Trent Rockets 127/1 in 82 balls (Malan 62*; Garton 1-29) by 9 wickets with 18 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Marchant de Lange.
Half-centuries from Dawid Malan and D’Arcy Short propelled Trent Rockets to a nine-wicket victory over Southern Brave. They chased down a target of 127 runs with 18 balls to spare.
George Garton struck early, getting Alex Hales with the second ball, but it was the only wicket Brave managed. Malan and Short added an unbeaten 124 for the second wicket. Malan made 62 in 43 balls, with the 7 fours and 2 sixes, while Short remained unbeaten on 51.
Earlier, Marchant de Lange’s 5-20 restricted Southern Brave to 126 in 100 balls. Ross Whiteley’s 39* was the highest score of the innings.
Northern Superchargers vs Welsh Fire, Leeds
Welsh Fire 173/4 in 100 balls (Bairstow 56; Potts 1-23) beat Northern Superchargers 167/7 in 100 balls (Brook 62; Qais 4-13) by 5 runs. Player of the Match: Qais Ahmad.
Harry Brook’s blitz went in vain as Northern Superchargers prevailed over Welsh Fire to start their campaign with a win. Chasing an imposing 174, the Superchargers limped to 50/4 before Brook’s heroics brought them back in the game.
Brook made 62 off just 31 deliveries before getting pinned by Qais Ahmed. The Superchargers still needed 34 runs in 17 balls at this stage. Brydon Carse (11 off 8) and Matty Potts (20 off 10) did well to drag the game to the very end but failed to drive their team across the target. Qais conceded just 13 runs in 20 balls and picked up four wickets.
Earlier, Welsh Fire rode on 36-ball 56 from Jonny Bairstow, and handy contributions from Ben Duckett (41) and Jimmy Neesham (23), to put 173 on the board.