Crawley, bowlers help Superchargers make winning start

Zak Crawley put his recent disappointment in the Test series against India aside to strike an unbeaten 67 that helped Northern Superchargers make a winning start to this year's Hundred. Chasing 144 against Welsh Fire, Superchargers got the job done in breezy fashion with Crawley involved in a 91-run opening stand alongside Dawid Malan.

The victory though was set up earlier by the bowlers who created quite an impact after Superchargers opted to bowl. Jonny Bairstow got off to a good start alongside Steve Smith. Matthew Potts, who had conceded a six and a four to Smith, got his revenge when the Australian got an inside edge that rattled the stumps. He caused a flutter when he struck the very next delivery that saw the back of Luke Wells and from thereon, the bowling side just continued to pull things back.

Despite the 62-run opening partnership, Welsh Fire just couldn't find momentum in the latter stages of the innings with the opposition bowlers continuing to strike. Bairstow's departure for 42 dented them further as the middle-order caved in. Apart from Potts, Adil Rashid and Imad Wasim also picked two wickets each as Welsh Fire finished with 143 for 9 off their 100 deliveries. While it was Malan who got things going in the chase with a boundary, Crawley quickly took over when he crunched a six over deep backward square leg and followed it up with a boundary.

Riley Meredith was welcomed to the attack with a six each from the openers as they continued to dominate. At the halfway point, they were well ahead of the asking rate. Meredith did raise some small hopes when he struck in succession to get rid of Malan and Michael Pepper in the space of 10 balls but skipper Harry Brook walked out and hit a six first ball to rubber stamp his side's dominance. Brook remained unbeaten on 25 off just 15 and Crawley remained not out on 67 at the other end as the England duo got the job done with 11 balls left.

Brief scores: Welsh Fire 143/9 in 100 balls (Jonny Bairstow 42; Adil Rashid 2/25) lost to Northern Superchargers 144/2 in 89 balls (Zak Crawley 67*, Dawid Malan 41) by 8 wickets