The Hundred: Will Smeed succeeds in the first century in the competition as Birmingham Phoenix beats Southern Brave | News about cricket
Will Smeed (101 not out) made history in The Hundred and Henry Brooks won five goals as Birmingham Phoenix beat the defending champion Southern Brave; watch Oval Invincibles vs Northern Superchargers live on Sky from 2:30pm on Thursdays, Hundred Women coverage starting at 6pm
Last Updated: 10/08/22 9:35 pm
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Will Smeed of Birmingham Phoenix becomes the first player to score a record goal in The Hundred after a superb knockdown against Southern Brave
Will Smeed of Birmingham Phoenix becomes the first player to score a record goal in The Hundred after a superb knockdown against Southern Brave
On a night that made history, Will Smeed headed the first century in The Hundred and Henry Brookes dropped five goals in Edgbaston as Birmingham Phoenix beat defending champion Southern Brave.
Birmingham Phoenix: 176-4 from 100 balls – Smeed (101 from 50 balls, not out), Benjamin (17 from 12 balls); Brookes (5-25 out of 20 balls)
Southern Brave: 123-10 from 85 balls – Davies (33 shots 24), Whiteley (18 shots 12); Stoinis (1-12 in 10 balls)
Story of the match
During NHS Heroes Night in Birmingham, with workers and support staff invited in as a thank you for their outstanding work, 14,000 spectators were happily entertained as Smeed beat 101 in 50 the ball to lift his team to 176-4.
Brave responded with a bland 123 as Brookes made his dream debut on the field he always called home.
He led 5-25 and two excellent catches as Phoenix took home the first win of the campaign and gave James Vince’s side their first defeat in nine games.
After Phoenix was brought in, they leaned heavily on Smeed after Chris Benjamin, was promoted, and Moeen Ali each raced to 17 but later perished.
Benjamin sent a skier away from Marcus Stoinis before Ali, after lifting George Garton deep into the crowd in the middle of the match, cut James Fuller’s first ball into his tree stump.
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A look back at the best hits and catch from the first week of The Hundred.
Smeed galloped 25 balls over half a century, hitting 6 balls longer than Jake Lintott in an 80-in-44-ball match with Liam Livingstone.
Livingstone never really enjoyed his success, scoring only two from the first seven and 21 from 20 before elevating Lintott to the subclass.
In the last 10 balls, the big question is will Smeed finish his ton? He needs five from the last three and a four and a two takes him to the magic mark from 49 balls.
Henry Brookes leads 5-25 in Birmingham Phoenix victory
Phoenix began their total defense with an increasingly depleted attack, Adam Milne joined Matt Fisher, Chris Woakes and Olly Stone on the absentee list.
But Kane Richardson soon stepped up, bowling Vince with his first serve after the Brave captain knocked Ali out 16 of three balls in the first set.
Richardson conceded just a single goal from his first five balls and Phoenix attacked again when Stoinis was brilliantly caught by Brookes on a short Tom Helm free-kick.
Brookes followed that up with sensational style by hitting the ball with second, 10, 13, 15 and 17 balls.
Quinton de Kock returns an own goal, Tim David lifts into a deep square, Alex Davies is pitched over a hit for 33 and Fuller and Garton are pinned.
Brookes is not finished yet. At 108-7, part of Brave’s remaining hope lay in some loud fireworks from Ross Whiteley, but when he threw Benny Howell into the long leg, Brookes made no mistake and Richardson later followed. cleaned the tail.
What’s next?
Thursday saw the start of the women’s competition with a match between the Oval Invincibles and the Northern Superchargers. Building on Sky Sports Hundred’s main event, Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports starts at 6pm before the first ball kicks off at 6:30pm.
The men’s schedule will take place earlier with coverage from 2:30pm and the first ball game at 3pm. You can also watch the match via our free live stream on skysports.com, the Sky Sports App and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
Invincibles vs Superchargers
August 11, 2022, 2:30pm
Live on 
Invincibles vs Superchargers
August 11, 2022, 6:00 pm
Live on
Watch every game of The Hundred this summer live on Sky Sports. The women’s competition kicks off on Thursday with the defending Oval Invincibles champions taking on the Northern Superchargers at The Kia Oval (18:30 start).
Tickets for The Hundred are selling fast! If you want to be a part of the action, go to theh hundred.com/tickets
