Welsh Fire vs London Spirit, Sophia Garden
London Spirit 163/5 in 100 balls (Inglis 72; Higgins 3-21) lost to Welsh Fire 165/7 in 98 balls (Phillips 80; Wheal 3-30) by 3 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Glenn Phillips.
A fiery 80 from Glenn Phillips helped Welsh Fire avoid the wooden spoon after they chased down a target of 164 in 98 balls with two balls to spare. London Spirit, meanwhile, signed off with the seventh defeat of their campaign.
Adam Rossington and Josh Inglis got the Spirit off a decent start. They added 40 for the opening stand before Rossington was undone by Matthew Critchley. Joe Cracknell then joined Inglis out in the middle, and the duo added 73 runs in the next 43 balls.
Cracknell hit two sixes and two fours in his 24-ball 35. Eoin Morgan then chipped in with 25 in 12 balls. Inglis was finally dismissed by Ryan Higgins, for 72. Higgins finished with three wickets.
The chase for the Fire started in the worst possible way. They lost both openers, Tom Banton and David Lloyd, for a duck. Bradley Wheal then beat the skipper Ben Duckett through the gate to reduce them to 20/3.
But a 93-run opening stand between Glenn Phillips and Leus du Plooy brought the Fire back in the game. Du Ploy held the innings, taking calculated risks, while Phillips was the aggressor, with 80 from 35 balls.
Josh Cobb did the rest with an unbeaten 28 as Welsh Fire hunted down the target. For the Spirit, Blake Cullen and Bradley Wheal took three wickets each.