Smeed stars on debut as Birmingham Phoenix chase 145 with ease to beat Trent Rockets

Debutant Will Smeed helped Birmingham Phoenix pull off a stunning performance with the bat as they chased down 145 with 26 balls remaining against Trent Rockets.

David Malan (51) led the visitors to a somewhat par score of 144-6 after Moeen Ali won the toss and opted to bowl. However, explosive hitting from Smeed (36) and Finn Allen (43) at the top of the innings saw Phoenix make light work of the target.

Off the back of consecutive defeats, Smeed replaced Kent vice-captain Daniel Bell-Drummond despite only having 17 T20 Blast appearances to his name. For what he lacks in experience, the Somerset youngster certainly makes up in talent.

It was Allen who got the chase off to a flyer though, the talented New Zealander pulled Luke Wood for back-to-back fours through deep-square-leg.

Smeed quickly signalled his intentions by slog-sweeping Samit Patel for six over fine-leg, in spite of the veteran all-rounder’s experience of bowling in the powerplay.

Patel’s partner in crime for both Nottinghamshire and the Rockets also struggled early on, with Allen bashing Matt Carter over long-on for six before sending a short ball for four.

It would soon get worse for the visitors when Timm van der Gugten was brought into the attack. After a wide-ball first up, the Dutchman would concede 21 runs to Smeed off his five legal deliveries including sixes over backwards-square-leg and deep-midwicket.

Smeed would eventually play one shot too many as he attempted to smash Rashid Khan’s drag-down over deep-midwicket, but his connection with the ball was not perfect and he was picked out by D’Arcy Short in the deep.

Nonetheless, 36 runs off only 13 deliveries is one hell of a way to make a statement in your first-ever 100 ball fixture.

Controversy would soon follow, as the tournament’s early pacesetters looked to build on Smeed’s dismissal. With Patel reintroduced into the attack, Rockets skipper Lewis Gregory opted to review an LBW shout against Moeen Ali despite it initially appearing that the ball had only made connection with the all-rounder’s bat.

Once ultra-edge confirmed that pad was involved before bat, there was a general consensus amongst the 17,479 fans packed into Edgbaston that ball-tracking would prove that the ball was going onto hit the stumps and the Phoenix captain would be out.

Although, after a lengthy wait, TV umpire Tim Robinson confirmed that due to a technical fault ball-tracking was in fact unavailable and the on-field decision of not-out, to the despair of Patel, would stand.

As Allen continued to cause Carter trouble with another six over long-on, Ali was determined to make the most of his second life and rubbed salt in the wounds of Patel by hitting the 36-year-old for consecutive sixes into the leg-side.

That being said, Patel would finish his penultimate set of five with the dismissal of 34-year-old, who nailed another leg-side shot but this time into the hands of Wood at wide-long-on. By now, the damage had already been inflicted by Allen, Smeed and Ali with Phoenix only needing 41 runs off 50 balls.

Marchant De Lange’s impressive form with the ball has been key to the Rockets’ perfect start to the competition, however, Gregory opted to provide the speedster with just one set of five with which he conceded only six runs. The Somerset all-rounder’s persistence to stick with spin must be questioned.

While Patel and Carter took a pasting, the undoubted best leg-spinner in the world ensured his reputation remained intact amid the slogging as Khan bowled Allen with a googly after the Kiwi failed to connect with an attempted reverse sweep.

There was no respite for the Rockets though, as man-of-the-moment Liam Livingstone (23*) sent Short’s solitary set of five for 15 runs following two sixes over deep-midwicket.

From miscommunication to dropped catches, the visitors’ performance in the field also hampered their chances of remaining unbeaten. Van der Gugten parried the second of Livingstone’s aforementioned maximums over the rope as his afternoon got even worse.

Khan’s pace would get the better of Miles Hammond (4) to claim his third and final wicket as the Afghanistan T20I captain showed why he is a nightmare for batsmen to face.

His reputation would not affect the short innings of rising star Chris Benjamin (9*) as the South African-born wicketkeeper-batsman hit Khan for consecutive reverse-sweep boundaries to reduce the required total into single figures.

With the match still very much in the balance at the interval, knocking off 145 with 26 balls remaining has to be the best batting performance of The Hundred so far, especially against a side who possess the likes of De Lange and Khan.

It would also be wrong to ignore the efforts of the Phoenix attack, with Adam Milne, in particular, impressing again after conceding just 0.65 runs per ball and taking two wickets.

Short (0) may have averaged a staggering 134 in the 100 ball format following scores of 55* and 69*, but he was no match for Milne who had the Aussie caught at short-fine-leg for a duck when trying to flick the ball off his hips.

Although Tom Helm would not experience the same joy early on, he instead conceded 18 runs to Alex Hales (38) off his opening five deliveries which included three fours and heave over deep-midwicket for six.

Pat Brown also made his return to first-team cricket after a back injury kept him out of action for almost a year. The Worcestershire bowler conceded just five runs off his first set of five before Hales hit Ali for consecutive boundaries in a bid to increase the run rate.

Dawid Malan’s slow starts have frustrated some England supporters who think the number three slot could be filled by an explosive hitter in the mould of Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes or even Hales himself.

Despite registering his second half-century of The Hundred, Malan was under pressure after scoring eight off 13, and that pressure nearly cost him his wicket. The number one ranked T20I batsman’s attempted slog-sweep found the diving Brown on the boundary, but fortunately for Malan, it was a near-impossible catch to take on the rope.

That six would act as a release of pressure for Malan, rather than a shot to kickstart his innings and his low strike rate would eventually force Hales into a shot that was never really on. Ali would claim the big wicket after Hales sliced an effort into the hands of Smeed at mid-off.

The worry for England and Eoin Morgan going into the World Cup is that Malan will apply similar pressure onto his international teammates and prevent them from playing their natural game.

Patel (31) took on the onus of being the more aggressive member of the newly-formed partnership as he creamed an Ali delivery over long-on and into the South Stand before hitting Brown all the way past deep-midwicket for another maximum.

With Patel searching for another maximum, Benny Howell would claim his wicket as Smeed took another catch, this time at deep-backwards square following a slog-sweep.

Malan was again fortunate to keep his wicket when looking to accelerate after Hammond parried a slog into the boundary at cow corner.

Helm would return to take the wicket of Gregory (3) before Ali produced a moment of magic to dismiss Malan just as the Yorkshire batsman began to look dangerous with a massive shot over cow corner to bring up 50.

The Phoenix skipper picked up the ball at mid-off as Malan looked to steal a single, and produced a sensational throw to hit one stump and see off his England teammate.

Despite the best efforts of Tom Moores (7*) and Carter (8*) the Rockets failed to turn their solid total into a spectacular one, and they certainly paid the price for that.

Yet Gregory refused to get dragged down with the defeat and emphasised how happy he is with the start his side have made.

“We’ve been playing some brilliant cricket in this competition, and I fully expect us to continue doing that.

“We’re in a fantastic spot in the table halfway through the group stages and now we’ve got a few days to get away and chill out before coming back for Cardiff on Friday.”

Smeed was deservedly awarded Hero of the Match thanks to a confident performance that you’d expect to see from a seasoned professional. He may have not displayed any, but Smeed did admit there were some nerves before going out to bat.

“It’s the first time that I’ve played infront of a full crowd so I was a bit nervy, and then playing for a new team and trying to make an impact there were a few nerves but they quickly went.

“It was amazing, I just wish I could have stayed out there for a bit longer, but I loved every minute of it out there.”

A much-needed victory sees Phoenix jump from seventh to fourth and they’ll be looking to leapfrog Oval Invincibles with another home win against Sam Billings’ side on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Rockets will return to action on Friday as they take on Welsh Fire at Sophia Gardens.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt