Sunrisers Leeds didn’t fairly match the heights of their record-breaking six-hitting fest towards London Spirit, however nonetheless posted their highest away complete of the Males’s Hundred 2026 to dismantle Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston, eliminating them from the knockouts race. Ryan Rickelton was the star once more with a 37-ball 65, earlier than Brydon Carse bagged three wickets to interrupt the again of the Phoenix batting line-up. The win took the Sunrisers to second on the factors desk with their fourth win, solely internet run-rate separating them from MI London and Welsh Fireplace.
The Sunrisers misplaced the toss and had been requested to bat once more, however the Mitchell Marsh-Rickelton pair picked up from the place they left off at Headingley a couple of evenings in the past. Each openers placed on a medical boundary-hitting show because the Sunrisers raced to 46 within the Powerplay, 33 of which got here off Marsh’s bat. Usman Tariq broke the 52-run partnership, cleansing up Marsh who stayed too leg-side of the ball.
Rickelton then took cost because the set batter and Harry Brook obtained in on the act himself after the midway mark, launching Scott Currie over additional cowl earlier than ramping him subsequent ball. Tariq struck once more although with Brook enjoying throughout an tried paddle to be trapped leg earlier than for 19. Captain Zak Crawley chipped one to lengthy on, however Rickelton notched up his second consecutive half-century, maintaining the Sunrisers on target for an enormous rating. He even took on Tariq, who was comfortably one of the best of the Phoenix bowlers on show.
Contemporary off a Check recall, Dan Lawrence might solely handle 14 runs and within the quest for fast runs, the Sunrisers misplaced 4 wickets within the house of 13 balls at dying. Two of these wickets, together with Rickelton’s, had been run outs, and the boundaries dried up significantly. However Matthew Potts and Liam Patterson-White mixed for 2 sixes off the final three balls of the innings to catapult the Sunrisers to a stable complete of 169.
Carse bowled ten on the trot first up and was hit for 3 boundaries by Mitchell Owen. The seamer ultimately bounced Owen out although, extending the Australian’s poor kind within the competitors. Hitting the deck labored wonders for the Sunrisers, as Potts had Will Smeed slashing behind earlier than Carse bounced Rehan Ahmed out too for a duck.
Joe Clarke and Sean Dickson led the restoration with a 44-run stand. Whereas Clarke took on Potts, Dickson started slowly earlier than he hammered Nathan Ellis for a six. However Phoenix had been by no means on par with the eight-ball curve, mustering simply 63 on the midway mark because the spin duo of Abrar Ahmed and Patterson-White stored issues tight. The strain of that asking charge ultimately instructed as Clarke holed out, earlier than Carse returned to land the killer blow within the type of Donovan Ferreira’s wicket as he outfoxed him with a slower supply.
The writing was on the wall, whilst some late hits from Dickson and Jordan Thompson stored the house crowd hopeful of a miracle. However Phoenix had been all the time chasing a couple of runs too many as wickets stored tumbling. Potts took two in as many deliveries to complete with a three-fer of his personal, whereas Ellis didn’t concede a run off his ultimate set of 5. That no boundary got here off the final fifteen balls of the innings summed up a stellar night for the Sunrisers, consigning Phoenix to their fifth successive lack of the season because the curtains got here down on a disappointing marketing campaign.
Temporary Scores: Sunrisers Leeds 169/7 in 100 balls (Ryan Rickelton 65, Mitchell Marsh 34; Usman Tariq 2-28, Tom Helm 1-25) beat Birmingham Phoenix 124-8 in 100 balls (Sean Dickson 34, Jordan Thompson 25*; Brydon Carse 3-17, Matthew Potts 3-22, Abrar Ahmed 1-19) by 45 runs.
