Livingstone, Smeed help Phoenix earn first points of the season

Liam Livingstone (69 not out off 27) and Will Smeed (51 off 29) rendered the efforts of Donovan Ferreira (63 off 29) and Jordan Cox (44 off 30) worthless as Birmingham Phoenix secured their first points of the season, coming at the cost of the table-toppers Oval Invincibles at Edgbaston. The efforts of the pair powered the Phoenix in a high-scoring chase, which they capped off with two balls and four wickets to spare.

The Invincibles rode on the fiery knocks from Cox and Ferreira to post the highest first-innings total of the season, even as they had a shaky start to begin with. They were down to 12/2 in 15 deliveries, losing both openers Will Jacks and Tawanda Muyeye, but the middle-order showed some fight. Cox was the first to do so, hitting three fours and two sixes on his way to a 30-ball 44.

Sam Curran and Sam Billings too came and went, but the essay was fully resurrected by No. 6 batter Ferreira, whose innings included four fours and six sixes. The Invincibles went from 146/6 from 90 deliveries to 171/6 in 95, as off-spinner Dan Mousley conceded 25 runs. Nine came off the last five to push Invincibles to what they would've believed to be a winning total.

Phoenix however, pushed back through a second-wicket stand between Smeed and Joe Clarke (27 off 14) after Ben Duckett's early exit. By the time Curran dismissed Clarke, Phoenix had 73 off 45 deliveries. Out came Livingstone to steer the ship in a different direction with his six-hitting prowess. Even as Nathan Sowter stopped Smeed's onslaught (5 fours, 4 sixes) just past the half-way stage, Livingstone carried on. Tom Curran and Saqib Mahmood tried to keep their side in the hunt by reducing Phoenix to 111/4 but Mousley took a shot at redemption by staying put at the other end of a whirlwind 67-run stand with his captain, coming off 29 deliveries.

The Mousley-like set in this essay came from Rashid Khan, as Livingstone took him for three sixes and two fours. The leggie finished with his worst figures in all T20 (0/59 in 20 balls) as the equation came down to 35 off 20. Sam bowled 10 tight deliveries, conceding only 13 to keep his team alive but Livingstone eased the pressure by going after his brother Tom, hitting him for 19 in a set of five. The equation was down to 3 off 5 when Saqib Mahmood arrived and struck twice in the first two balls, but Benny Howell hit the hat-trick ball for four to complete the chase.

Brief Scores: Oval Invincibles 180/8 in 100 balls (Donovan Ferreira 63, Jordan Cox 44; Trent Boult 2-20) lost to Birmingham Phoenix 182/6 in 98 balls (Liam Livingstone 69*, Will Smeed 51; Saqib Mahmood 3-28) by 4 wickets