Men’s Hundred 2024, LS-M vs BP-M 5th Race Race Report, July 27, 2024

Birmingham-Phoenix 131 for 7 (Bethell 43, Stone 2-14) beat London spirit 127 for 7 (Russell 37*, Abbott 4-14) by three wickets

Sean Abbott produced a memorable performance with the ball to help Birmingham Phoenix secure a three-wicket victory over London Spirit in a thrilling, low-scoring match at Lord’s.

Abbott scored 4 of 14 from his 20 balls – the 10th best tally in men’s hundred history – as Phoenix restricted the home side to 127 from 7. The Australian all-rounder was there at the finish as his team crossed the line with one ball to spare.

Batting first, Spirit were 30 for 5 after Tim Southee caught Daniel Bell-Drummond lbw with his first delivery and Abbott dismissed Michael Pepper, Adam Rossington, Dan Lawrence and Ryan Higgins within eight balls.

Shimron Hetmyer flickered briefly but fell for 16 after beating Benny Howell to Adam Milne before Liam Dawson (36 off 34) and Andre Russell (37 off 20) mounted a recovery. Russell hit four sixes in a typically brutal knock, including three maximums from the final over of the innings, bowled by Milne.

Phoenix also struggled against the new ball, slumping to 20 for 4 after Dan Worrall claimed two early breakthroughs, including the crucial wicket of Moeen Ali for a duck. Liam Livingstone was unlucky to be bowled out by Olly Stone at the non-striker’s end before young guns Dan Mousley (39 off 38) and Jacob Bethell (43 off 27) took over.

The visitors faltered when both players were sent off with the finish in sight, but Howell kept his cool and struck the penultimate ball of the match over extra-cover to secure victory, while Abbott, the Meerkat Match Hero, was on the non-striker’s side.

Abbott said: “The feedback from the guys who opened was that it was working a bit, so I just tried to present the seam and hit the top of the stumps. The most important thing is to keep the run rate down and if you can take a few wickets along the way, that’s a bonus.

“The first two games were in favour of the bowlers. We didn’t expect so much seam movement at this time of the year.

“It was nice to be there at the end. I was pleased for Benny, he played really well again tonight. It wasn’t the easiest wicket and the two young lads (Mousley and Bethell) did quite well to get us close to home.”