Southern Brave won the first Men's Hundred tournament on Saturday (August 21), defeating Birmingham Phoenix by 32 runs in the final at the Lord's. Birmingham Phoenix and the Southern Brave were in great form in the group stage, finishing first and second in the points table, respectively. They went on to win their knockout stage matches, earning a berth in the final. There was speculation about whether this format would attract spectators but as per reports, this newly formed competition attracted young people, which was ECB's primary target audience. The final match report of the 100-ball cricket is covered in this article.

The Hundred 2021 Final Match Report: Southern Brave vs. Birmingham Phoenix

The format of The Hundred is unique among cricket formats. As the name implies, it's a 100-ball cricket match. A bowler can bowl a total of 20 balls in an innings, with 5 balls per over. Despite the fact that the format is different, the cricketers in the Hundred play with the same mindset.

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Ireland superstar Paul Stirling rose to the occasion for Southern Brave in the final against Birmingham Phoenix, helping his team achieve a 168/5 total in their allotted 100 balls. Paul Stirling sparked with a blistering 61 off 36 balls knock and formed a number of solid partnerships in the middle.

After Paul's departure, Ross Whiteley hammered 44 runs in just 19 balls which helped Southern to score a big total to defend the championship match. Birmingham Phoenix's best bowler was Adam Milne. He took two wickets and bowled 14 dot balls during his spell.

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In the run chase, Birmingham Phoenix scored 136/5 in their allocated overs and lost the match by a significant margin. Moeen Ali (36) and Liam Livingstone (46) of Birmingham tried to form a partnership to chase down the target, but they were unable to accelerate the innings in the middle.

Chris Benjamin (23) and Benny Howell (20) also tried their best to get close to the target but their efforts only reduced the margin of defeat.

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George Garton and Tymal Mills bowled some crucial dot deliveries for Southern Brave, putting the batsmen under a lot of strain. Tymal Mills, in particular, only gave up 13 runs in his 20 deliveries.

Paul Stirling was named player of the final for his outstanding batting performance. While Liam Livingstone was awarded player of the series after scoring 348 runs in 9 innings with a staggering 178.46 strike rate. Adam Milne, M de Lange, Adil Rashid, and Rashid Khan each took the most 12 wickets in the competition.

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Bottom Line

The inaugural edition of the Men's 100-ball cricket competition saw the Southern Braveemerge victorious. The Southern Braves have accomplished something truly remarkable. Paul Stirling, Ross Whiteley, and Tymal Mills were the key performers in the final for the winning side. The Hundred had to be postponed for a year due to the coronavirus epidemic. However, a new-format competition is never easy to organize. The organizers should be applauded for their efforts in putting together a great event. Overall, the tournament was a success.

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