From: Ed Mace
Cardiff, 12 August 2026:
Wednesday’s Hundred action saw both the Birmingham Phoenix and Welsh Fire throw away winning positions but it wasn’t enough to send MI London through to the Eliminator.
MI London needed a 59-run victory to overtake Sunrisers Leeds on net run rate so their victory in a last-ball thriller with the Phoenix left them eliminated.
Fire stumble in finale as Spirit stay resolute
Earlier, the Welsh Fire needed just 17 off 15 balls at one point with seven wickets in hand but failed to get over the line thanks to some brilliant bowling from the London Spirit.
The Fire were set 132 to win after runs from Jonny Bairstow (34 off 19) and James Coles (29 off 22) took the Spirit to a respectable but chasable total at Sophia Gardens.
Marco Jansen and Chris Woakes bowled brilliantly for the Fire, restricting the likes of Liam Livingstone, Dewald Brewis and Lhuan-dre Pretorious to low scores.
In the chase, the Fire spent most of the innings behind the required rate as Phil Salt and Joe Root made contributions that laid a platform but didn’t materialise.
The odds swayed in the Fire’s favour when Jordan Cox came to the crease. He raced to 27 from 15 with Joe Root beside him, taking the equation to 47 required off 35.
Even when Root fell to the spin of James Coles the Fire were still on top. Rachin Ravindra who has been in fine form in 2026 joined Cox and started at an appropriate pace.
It was in Jamie Overton’s final set that things began to turn, as Ravindra played out three dot balls and took a single before Cox couldn’t score from the last of the five. It turned the healthy equation of 17 from 12 into 16 off 10.
Adam Milne backed up Overton from the other end as he took two in two. Cox, the first to depart as he picked out Overton at deep midwicket, before Tom Kohler-Cadmore continued his torrid form with an ugly shot that handed him a golden duck.
The Fire fell six runs short in the end thanks to a wicket off the final ball that looked as if it might go for a maximum. The home crowd was silenced and the Spirit picked up their third win and confirmed the high likelihood that the Fire were to be knocked out.
MI London win thriller but fail to progress
Needing a large margin of victory over the eliminated Phoenix, MI London could only muster a two-run win in a brilliant game.
Rehan Ahmed was so close to being the star for the Phoenix having taken 2-7 off 15 and scoring 23 from 11 with the bat, but he failed to drag his team over the line when they required just four off the last three balls.
MI London put together a strong total of 157-6 after contributions across the order. Will Jacks and James Vince started quickly to take them to 48-2 at the end of the powerplay. Nicholas Pooran took up the mantle and put together a swashbuckling innings of 36 off 21 which looked to take MI London to the big score required to have a shot at making the Eliminator.
They were pegged back by Rehan Ahmed and Donovan Ferreira who bowled tightly, but a powerful finish from Ollie Sykes and Sam Curran who put on 33 in 16 balls had MI London in the driving seat.
The Phoenix struggled at the front end of their chase. They lost three wickets in the powerplay as Richard Gleeson dismissed Mitch Owen and Laurie Evans in consecutive balls.
Joe Weatherly and Sean Dickson put together a partnership of 58 from 36 which put them back on pace after the halfway stage. Sam Curran bowled expensively but he took the wickets of both those two which proved crucial in unsettling the Phoenix chase.
Ferreira came in but could not deliver his usual fireworks as he scraped his way to 14 off 15. At that point the Phoenix needed 55 off 27 which seemed a long way off.
The immediate impetus of Jordan Thompson and Rehan Ahmed took things incredibly close. With Trent Boult bowling the final set defending 13, Ahmed took the 96th ball for a clever six over fine leg.
Boult followed that up with two wides and Ahmed was back on strike. He missed two well-bowled wide yorkers and then was run out with the final delivery.
It meant the Phoenix lost seven games in a row after beating eventual group-topping Trent Rockets in the opener. MI London finished in fourth in what will be considered a disappointing campaign for them.
Scores in brief:
London Spirit Men beat Welsh Fire Men by six runs
London Spirit 131-8 (Jonny Bairstow 34, James Coles 29; Marco Jansen 2-16, Chris Woakes 2-18)
Welsh Fire 125-7 (Jordan Cox 44, Joe Root 31; David Willey 3-20, Adam Milne 2-23)
Player of the match – David Willey
MI London Men beat Birmingham Phoenix Men by two runs
MI London 157-6 (Nicholas Pooran 36, Jason Roy 26; Rehan Ahmed 2-7, Chris Wood 2-28)
Birmingham Phoenix 155-7 (Joe Weatherly 42, Rehan Ahmed 23; Richard Gleeson 2-29, Sam Curran 2-37)
Player of the match – Richard Gleeson
