MI London 157 for 6 (Pooran 36, Rehan 2-7) beat Birmingham Phoenix 155 for 7 (Weatherley 42, Gleeson 2-29) by two runs
MI London secured a nerve-jangling two-run victory over Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston, earning a place in the Eliminator and sending the reigning champions packing.
The win was crucial for MI London, who needed to surpass SunRisers Leeds on net run-rate to claim third position. chasing a competitive 158, Phoenix bowled brilliantly in the early stages, with Richard Gleeson taking two wickets and restricting MI London to 98 requires. Sikandar Raza struck twice in the opening overs, clean bowling Joe Clarke and then removing Mitchell Owen and Laurie Evans in consecutive deliveries to surge ahead as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 14 victims.
A vital partnership between Joe Weatherley (42 from 31) and Sean Dickson (23 from 17) kept Phoenix alive, with a Tom Curran wides taking them to 99 and ending MI London’s slim hopes. However, Dickson’s wicket lbw to Sam Curran shifted momentum back to MI London, who held their nerve in the dying overs. Jordan Thompson (23* from 13) and Rehan Ahmed (23 from 11) pushed Phoenix close, but Trent Boult delivered the decisive blows, nailing yorkers to seal a dramatic two-run triumph.
Midway through the innings, Will Jacks and James Vince providedMI London with a solid foundation before Pooran’s explosive spell dispatched Tom Helm for 10 runs in two balls. However, Helm returned to claim Vince’s wicket with a clever back-of-the-hand slowie. Rehan Ahmed then curbed Phoenix’s momentum, conceding just three runs from his opening 10 deliveries, including six consecutive dot balls.
Pooran’s adventurous chase ended when he was caught high above long-off, followed by Jason Roy’s brief stay against another googly from Rehan. Despite late contributions from Ollie Sykes on debut and Tom Curran, MI London’s total proved just enough to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
With the champions eliminated, SunRisers Leeds now face Manchester Super Giants at the Kia Oval on Friday, with a Lord’s final against Trent Rockets on the line.
Richard Gleeson, named Meerkat Match Hero, reflected: “To win five games and not qualify when two teams have done the same as us is disappointing, but that shows the strength of the competition and you’ve got to be on top of your game all the way through – 30, 40, 50 runs can make a big difference.”