Chris Benjamin the unlikely hero as Birmingham Phoenix edge past London Spirit

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A late cameo by Chris Benjamin, just five days after his pro debut, guided Birmingham Phoenix to a tense opening victory against London Spirit in front of packed Edgbaston as The Hundred delivers another enthralling encounter.

Only 24 hours after hitting his maiden List A half-century for Warwickshire, South African born Benjamin struck 24 from 15 balls, including an audacious reverse scoop for six, to steer the home side to a victory target of 145 with just three balls remaining and secure a thrilling three-wicket win.

England batsman Zak Crawley fired 64 off 40 deliveries as the London Spirit, coached by Australian spin legend Shane Warne, finished on 144-6 after their 100 balls.

Phoneix’s bowling was impressive with Adam Milne, Tom Helm and Benny Howell each claiming two wickets as the in-form Australian Josh Inglis (10), Dan Lawrence (6) and captain Eoin Morgan (13) all failed to provide Crawley with the prolonged support.

Joe Denly looked in good nick scoring 25 off 14 balls as he took on the spin of veteran South African Imran Tahir, before becoming the second victim to Howell’s crafty variations which have made the Gloucestershire all-rounder a seasoned threat in the Vitality Blast.

Speedster Milne, bowling in the region of 94mph, was the pick of the bowlers for the home side as the New Zealand international conceded just 18 runs from his 20-ball allocation which included a stunning return catch to remove Ravi Bopara just moments after Moeen Ali put down a fairly routine grab.

In reply, the impressive Chris Wood made an early breakthrough for the Spirit, drawing a faint edge from Miles Hammond (5) which brought the man of the moment, Liam Livingstone, to the middle who swiftly launched young Blake Cullen for a huge six down the ground, registering 102 metres.

However, the England man soon lost his Lancashire teammate as Finn Allen (11) was bowled by former Pakistan international Mohammad Amir who recovered brilliantly from four consecutive wide deliveries.

The explosive duo of Moeen Ali and Livingstone appeared content with rotating the strike in a risk-free manner before the latter was superbly caught for 19 by Wood, running around the boundary at fine leg to hand Cullen his first wicket.

On a night of sublime fielding, Roelof van der Merwe then outdid his teammate to remove Daniel Bell-Drummond (11) by taking a high catch at long-on, before having the presence of mind to flick the ball in the air with momentum taking him over the rope and then calmly leaping back in-play to complete the catch.

Mohammad Nabi was the beneficiary, with the experienced Afghan spinner completing a handy spell in which his 20 deliveries yielded only 20 runs.

Van Der Merwe then claimed the big wicket of Moeen Ali (40) who had begun to accelerate the scoring, with Bopara taking a smart catch at long-on to leave the game in the balance at 98-5 with 29 balls remaining.

Howell smashed two maximums into the Hollies Stand but when he was undone by Cullen, the Birmingham Phoenix still required a further 24 from 14 balls and up step Chris Benjamin.

The relatively unknown quantity, who smashed 60 on his T20 debut for Warwickshire last Sunday, demonstrated both power and creativity in his knock which included a four and two huge sixes to take the game away from London Spirit.

Amir claimed his second wicket late on, with Bopara taking his third catch of the innings to remove Chris Cooke, but by then the damage was done and with just one run required from the final four balls, Milne confidently struck the winning runs much to the delight of the vocal home crowd.

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