South African veteran spinner Imran Tahir created history in 'The Hundred' tournament. He became the first bowler in this tournament to take a hat-trick and five wicket-hauls in an innings. He bowled brilliantly to guide Birmingham Phoenix to victory against Welsh Fire. Tahir, who played for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, took five wickets for 25 runs in 19 balls in the match against Welsh Fire.
Chasing the target of 185 runs, the fire was bundled to just 91 runs in 74 balls. Earlier, Birmingham Phoenix scored 184 runs with the help of half-centuries from young opener Will Smeed and captain Moeen Ali. Smeed remained unbeaten on 65 off just 38 balls and Ali scored 59 runs in 28 balls. Liam Livingstone scored 31 runs in 19 balls. Chasing the target of 185 runs, eight batsmen could not even touch the double figure. With this win, Birmingham Phoenix have moved up to the top of the points table with four wins in six matches. Meanwhile, Welsh Fire is at the bottom of the table. They have registered just two wins in six matches and are in seventh place.
Meanwhile, Birmingham Phoenix captain Moeen Ali said, "I am really pleased for him [Tahir] in particular. I think he's had a tough few games before that, but today he was outstanding. Will Smeed was fantastic – there was a period where he didn't face many balls but he still kept his head. He is just growing and getting better and better, which is great for us as a team but also great for English cricket. I wanted us to win by defending which is also important, because if you want to win the competition you can't just keep chasing, so I thought it was a great win today. I am really pleased."
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