Paul Stirling’s 61 and Ross Whiteley’s explosive cameo propelled Southern Brave to a convincing 32-run win over Birmingham Phoenix in the final. The Phoenix were eventually restricted to 136.
Quinton de Kock (7) once again failed to get going. His stay at the crease was abrupted by Adam Milne, who bowled a tight spell to build pressure on the opponents. James Vince, who scored a half-century in the Eliminator, got out cheaply.
Vince was bowled by Imran Tahir. At this stage, the Phoenix were 35/2 in 32 balls, and they needed someone to press the accelerator pedal. Stirling put up a brilliant show with the bat, hitting six sixes en route his 36-ball 61.
Benny Howell got the better of Stirling to reduce them to 82/3. The middle order then chipped in with valuable contributions. Alex Davies made a quickfire 27, while Tim David struck two sixes before being dismissed by Liam Livingstone.sm
Whiteley then went berserk, scoring an unbeaten 44 off 19 to take the Brave to 168/5. Milne conceded just 8 runs from 20 balls and claimed two wickets.
George Garton provided the Brave with an early breakthrough, getting David Bedingham caught by Tim David for a two-ball duck. Will Smeed played six balls for two runs before falling to Craig Overton.
Livingstone put up an excellent display of his hitting prowess, dealing mainly in boundaries. At one point it seemed he would take the game away, but he got run out for 46. The asking rate was a bit too much for the others, as the Phoenix could only manage 136/5.
Brief scores: Southern Brave 168/5 in 100 balls (Stirling 61; Milne 2-8) beat Birmingham Phoenix 136/5 in 100 balls (Livingstone 46; Mills 1-13) by 32 runs. Player of the Match: Paul Stirling.
Southern Brave won the Men’s Hundred. Player of the Tournament: Liam Livingstone.