Phoenix complete another stunning chase to break The Hundred record and beat the Invincibles

Birmingham Phoenix temporarily moved to the top of The Hundred table after pulling off yet another stunning chase to beat Oval Invincibles on a historic night at Edgbaston.

Vital contributions from Will Smeed (45), Moeen Ali (49) and Chris Benjamin (37*) saw Phoenix build on their impressive win against Trent Rockets and chase down a record score in the 100-ball format, after Colin Ingram’s sublime knock saw the Invincibles post 172 runs on the board.

An electric start throughout the powerplay was a minimum requirement for the hosts if they were to pull off an unlikely run chase, and that’s exactly what Finn Allen (23) provided with consecutive boundaries off the opening set of five.

The New Zealand international would soon lose his wicket in bizarre fashion. Having dropped Smeed on just three, Sunil Narine would somewhat atone for his previous error by claiming the scalp of Allen who stepped back onto his stumps whilst nudging into the on-side to be out hit-wicket.

Whilst Phoenix had made a positive start to the chase at 28-1 from 16 balls, Liam Livingstone (6) was promoted to three in a bid to maintain the high run rate. The birthday boy would hit a customary maximum off his fourth ball before heaving Tabraiz Shamsi’s short ball into the hands of deep-midwicket.

Meanwhile, after a reasonably slow start, Smeed had begun to accelerate. The 19-year-old hit Narine for consecutive leg-side sixes.

Ali’s knock proved to be a crucial one in the context of the match, though he should have been out for just three after playing an uncontrolled hook shot towards Reece Topley at deep-square. The Sussex seamer would put down a dolly at chest height and let his international teammate off the hook to the delight of the Eric Hollies Stand.

The skipper then combined with Smeed to smash 15 from Shamsi’s penultimate set of five to leave the home side needing 80 runs off the second half of the innings.

Their partnership of 54 would come to an end with Smeed slicing a Saqib Mahmood full toss into the hands of Narine at extra-cover to leave Phoenix 99-3 and needing 74 runs from 44 balls.

Although, the pendulum ultimately swung in Phoenix’s favour when Ali smashed back-to-back sixes off Tom Curran before he then slogged the following ball bowled by Narine over deep-midwicket to put his side in a position of strength only needing 46 runs off 34 deliveries.

It would eventually be a case of one big shot too many for Ali as he attempted to hit Mahmood, this time, over deep-midwicket but mistimed into the hands of Curran.

Nonetheless, his knock provided a great base for rising star Benjamin to complete a famous victory. The South African-born wicketkeeper-batsman batted in a streetwise manner despite only being 22-years-old, the experience of guiding Phoenix to victory in their opening clash against London Spirit would have been vital in the situation.

Needing 10 runs off 10 balls, he rounded off Topley’s miserable evening by finishing the game with a set of boundaries.

Ingram’s admirable innings saw the Invincibles register a tournament-high score and one that you would have imagined could not be chased down.

In spite of Adam Milne and Imran Tahir conceding only two runs from the first t10 balls, the Invincibles soon ramped up the scoring rate after Pat Brown had Will Jacks caught for 13 with a leading edge into the off-side.

Jason Roy (38) initially took on the responsibility of attacking as he whipped Ali’s delivery all the way for six over long-on as well as finding the rope on five occasions during his 22-ball knock.

However, Benny Howell would get the better of Roy as the England opener went too early on an attempted slog to leave his side at an average 69-2 halfway in.

Roy’s dismissal acted as a trigger for Ingram to go big, as the former South Africa international timed the ball superbly against pace-off bowling and played off the back-foot with conviction against the seamers. He would finish with eight fours and four sixes to his name.

Ingram and captain Sam Billings (24) put on 72 runs for the second wicket, as the latter looked to continue his impressive run of form in the competition.

Albeit he was dismissed by Brown when attempting to play an ambitious shot over long-on. The Worcestershire bowler was unfortunate not to have taken the wicket of Ingram when on 57, with Miles Hammond putting down a relatively easy chance at long-off.

That drop proved costly as Ingram hit 23 runs off the six balls he then faced, the in-form Adam Milne also went for 15 off his final set of five but that proved to be redundant thanks to the Phoenix batsman.

While the Phoenix batsman delivered fireworks, Ali was keen to sing the praises of the phenomenal Edgbaston crowd who created an atmosphere to push their side onto victory.

“For us, the crowd is like having a 12th man. As soon as we went out to bat and played a few shots they put the opposition under pressure as much as anyone.

“It’s amazing what that pressure can do. It’s an amazing place to play cricket so we’re very lucky, hopefully we can continue performing and entertaining them.”

The Hundred has drawn a number of opinions from cricket fans, ranging from those who are adamant the format is harming the county system and those who are open to a new format that condenses the country’s best talents.

After his side threw away a victory from such a commanding position, it may have been easy for Ingram to be downbeat, but instead, he emphasised how impressed he was been with the competition in general.

“That platform for younger guys to show off their skills on a world stage is certainly something new, and I know how important that is for English and Welsh players to put themselves on that platform.

“It’s been absolutely fantastic to be honest, the crowd attendance has been amazing. I think I’ve watched most of the games and pretty much every one has been a highlights package and gone down to the wire! It all bodes well going forward.”

Moeen Ali will lead his team out at Edgbaston for one final time against Welsh Fire, with Ingram and the Invincibles facing the Rockets.

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