MI London needed to win by 59, won by two, and their three-year run is over

MI London won the last match of the Hundred group stage and went out of the competition anyway. They beat Birmingham Phoenix by two runs at Edgbaston on Wednesday night. They needed to win by 59.

Three teams, 20 points, and a net run rate problem

The men’s table finished with Manchester Super Giants, Sunrisers Leeds and MI London all on 20 points from eight games, all with five wins and three defeats. Net run rate did the separating. Super Giants took second on 0.791, Sunrisers third on 0.603, and MI London fourth on 0.241, which is why a narrow win was worth nothing to them. Trent Rockets had already sewn up first place and a direct route to the final with 24 points.

So the Eliminator on Friday at the Kia Oval is Super Giants against Sunrisers, and the winner meets the Rockets at Lord’s on Sunday. MI London, who won the last three men’s titles as Oval Invincibles, are watching.

A chase that came down to the last ball

Phoenix put MI London in and never let the innings run away. Nicholas Pooran top-scored with 36 off 21 and Jason Roy made 26, but the innings kept stalling: Sam Curran went for a four-ball duck, and Rehan Ahmed’s 15 balls cost seven runs and took two wickets, which in a 100-ball match is close to unplayable. Ollie Sykes and Tom Curran added 33 in the last 16 balls to get MI London to 157 for 6.

Phoenix were 34 for 3 in the powerplay and should have been finished. Joe Weatherley’s 42 off 31 with Sean Dickson kept them in it, Jordan Thompson finished on 23 not out, and Rehan Ahmed hit 23 off 11 to leave the game alive into the final ball, where he was run out going for the runs that would have taken it. MI London also picked up a slow over-rate penalty for the last 10 balls, an extra fielder inside the circle at exactly the wrong moment. Richard Gleeson took 2 for 29 and the match award.

Phoenix finish bottom

For Birmingham Phoenix this was the seventh defeat in a season that produced one win, a 10-run result against Trent Rockets in the opening week, and four points. Their elimination was confirmed days ago. Losing by two runs to a side that needed a landslide is the sort of consolation that does not survive the winter.

The Hundred’s knockout weekend is now set: Super Giants against Sunrisers on Friday, the winner against a Rockets team that lost twice in eight games, at Lord’s on Sunday.

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