Duckett leads Trent Rockets to convincing win over Welsh Fire

Ben Duckett’s 45-ball 52 was complemented by breezy cameos by Finn Allen (19-ball 33) and Tom Banton (15-ball 31) as Trent Rockets cruised to a comfortable nine-wicket win, chasing down 123 against Welsh Fire with 28 balls to spare at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, on Wednesday. The victory was, however, set up courtesy a disciplined bowling effort led by the New Zealand duo of Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner, who combined to bag five wickets, even though Jordan Cox clubbed the latter for three sixes. Henry chose to bowl, and the Rockets scored quickly, sending Joe Root and Phil Salt back quickly. With the pace trio of Mohammad Amir, Craig Overton and Henry proving difficult to take apart, Fire struggled in the early part of their innings. The bowlers made sure to make effective use of their variations to take advantage of the two-paced pitch. At the halfway mark, Fire had reached only 59, and attempts to counter attack proved counterproductive. Over the next 14 balls, they lost three wickets with Santner getting into the act. Cox provided the late surge as he took apart the left-arm spinner for three successive sixes. He was kicked out after trying to hit a fourth, and Finn Allen made a diving catch at the cover boundary. Cox smoked four sixes in his 16-ball 33, but the hosts were limited to 122 for 7. In response, Rockets were controlled with their chase. While Finn took some time to get going, Duckett kept the attack on against the pace trio of Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson and Chris Woakes, crunching seven boundaries off the first 22 balls of the innings. Later, Allen joined the attack and tore Sam Cook apart, smoking one over long on and pulling him over midwicket off the next. By then, totally in control of the contest, the Fire pacers were left with too much to pull back. Rachin Ravindra had Allen trapped leg-before on 33, but a flurry of extras, including seven no-balls, didn’t help their cause. Duckett slowed down after the early blitz, but the required rate was well under control by then. Banton cracked four boundaries and a six, the last of which - a four through extra cover - helped the side over the line, taking them to their second successive win of the season and putting them on top of the points table. This was Fire's first loss.