Low-scoring tussle goes Fire’s way on back of Salt’s knock

Welsh Fire ground out a win in a tight, low-scoring game, with Salt leading the fight with a gritty knock.

Tough batting conditions

Runs were hard to come by and both sides struggled to get going. Salt stands firm Salt dug in when wickets were falling around him/her, batting through the pressure and anchoring the Fire innings/chase. Nervy finishIt went down to the wire, but Fire’s composure and Salt’s determination saw them edge over the line. Not pretty, but effective. Salt’s gritty innings proved the difference as Welsh Fire held their nerve to win a low-scoring tussle.

Phil Salt was the star with the bat, punching out a composed, unbeaten 47 to break the back of the chase, clearing the ropes at midwicket from a length ball from Chris Jordan to clinch the win with two balls to spare.

While the Fire always had the edge, it shouldn't have been that close. Salt's third-wicket partnership of 49 with Rachin Ravindra (24 from 16) looked to have settled matters, but when Ravindra holed out to the leg-spin of Nikhil Chaudhary, the Fire stuttered to the line.

With 20 balls remaining, Fire needed just 19. But Adil Rashid's final five balls went for just a single to ignite the crowd of 8,452, and when Jofra Archer's follow-up 10 deliveries leaked just nine runs, it left the Fire needing nine from five.

Fire’s seamers dominate

On a tacky, two-paced pitch, Woakes, Cook and Jansen varied pace brilliantly. They went for just 72 from 60 balls combined and kept Brave tied down. Cook started with a leg-cutter to bowl Jamie Smith. Ben McKinney fell to a boundary catch off Ravindra. Tristan Stubbs made 4, caught by Ben Kellaway on the rope. Thomas Rew impressed on debut with 41 off 30, while David Miller anchored — slow at first, 10 off 18, then 34 off his next 17 before being run out by a direct hit from Ravindra.

Brave finished 135-7. The target looked tricky, but Salt batted through the chase with class. His innings got Welsh Fire over the line and delivered their first win over Brave in 9 attempts. Discipline with the ball set it up, Salt finished it. Fire’s varied seam attack strangled Brave, and Salt’s knock made sure they cashed in.

"Sizing up the conditions, I get a bit of an advantage when I keep, I get to have a good look from there. But you always have to give yourself a few balls. In low-scoring games like that, you have to make sure you go deeper and deeper into your innings to ensure you get the impact that you want.

"Rachin's innings was massively important, at that stage of the innings, we understood that I would drop anchor and he would take the pressure off me, and to get the deficit down to about a run a ball, that was such an important knock for us.

Welsh Fire 138 for 4 (Salt 47*) beat Southern Brave 135 for 7 (Miller 44, Rew 41) by six wickets