Matt Short’s unbeaten half-century led Welsh Fire to a six-wicket win over Southern Brave in Cardiff, moving them level on points with Trent Rockets at the top of The Hundred standings.
Opting to bowl first, Fire struck early. Chris Woakes and Sam Cook removed Jamie Smith and Ben McKinney in the opening overs, both edging to Phil Salt. Cook and Salt also combined to dismiss Nikhil Chaudhary, leaving the Brave 45-3 at the halfway mark on a testing surface.
Rachin Ravindra then produced two big breakthroughs, turning the ball to trap Tristan Stubbs and then outfoxing Moeen Ali, who was caught by Joe Root after skying a delivery. Marcus Stoinis pushed the score along with a 35-ball fifty, injecting some much-needed momentum before Cook returned to take a superb catch at deep square and finish with figures of 3-14.
David Miller struck a couple of late sixes, but when Matt Short was introduced into the bowling in the final five overs he claimed Miller caught on the edge. Jofra Archer, batting for the Brave, smoked a first-ball six but was dismissed the next ball, and Southern Brave were bowled out for 115-8 — their lowest total in The Hundred, below the 118-8 they made against Oval Invincibles in 2024.
Chasing 116, Archer opened the bowling for Welsh Fire and immediately removed Phil Salt with his first delivery, building pressure by not conceding a run until his eighth ball. Root and Short put together a steady opening stand, nudging the score to 60 off 48 balls before Root was caught by McKinney off Chris Jordan.
Ravindra and Jordan Cox’s brief stays were followed by a composed partnership between Short and Tom Kohler-Cadmore. Short reached a 37-ball fifty with a scoop off Archer and used the ramp well to keep the chase on track. Kohler-Cadmore rotated the strike while Short controlled the big shots; the win was sealed when two wides ended the contest.
Short said: “It was tough early and it was a pretty spicy wicket with some quick bowlers. It was nice to bat second and get a bit of dew and skid off the wicket. They came hard with a Test match length but the shine wears off and it gets a bit easier. When we bowled, our guys hit the right length and let the ball do the talking.”
The victory puts Welsh Fire level on 16 points with Trent Rockets, though the Fire’s net run rate remains negative at -0.081 compared with the Rockets’ +0.760. Southern Brave have now lost four of their six matches and face an uphill fight to qualify.
The Hundred resumes on Tuesday with SunRisers Leeds hosting London Spirit at Headingley; the women’s game starts at 3pm and the men’s match follows at 6:30pm.