Batting quartet powers Northern Superchargers to top spot

The Northern Superchargers quartet of Dawid Malan (58 off 34), Zak Crawley (45 off 23), Harry Brook (31* off 14) and Michael Pepper (28 off 21) hit 19 fours and five sixes between them to carry out the bulk of the scoring in a mammoth first-innings total of 193/5.

Jacob Bethell, fresh from being awarded England captaincy for Ireland T20Is, and Liam Livingstone took it upon themselves to try and snare that down for Birmingham Phoenix - a ploy picked apart by Adil Rashid. In the end, Phoenix finished with 157/9 - an excellent score in this tournament but insufficient by some distance on the night.

Trent Boult bowled an excellent first set, conceding only one run in five deliveries. But Crawley then came down heavily in the sets to follow as the Superchargers ended PowerPlay on 57/0. Boult went for 10 and 25 in his next two sets while Tim Southee and Adam Milne were also taken apart in a lively start. Livingstone's spin got the better of Crawley, following which Malan and Pepper dragged their side to 94/1 at the halfway stage.

Malan then began to chance his arms, smashing Livingstone and Chris Wood to reach a 28-ball half-century. Pepper got a few boundaries going before falling towards the end of the innings, but Brook threw his bat around to push his team towards the 200-run mark. They fell short by seven runs because Boult finished like he began - with a tight set worth only six runs and a wicket.

In the steep chase, Phoenix were hamstrung by three early wickets as Will Smeed, Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke made PowerPlay exits. Livingstone and Bethell picked up the pieces from 27/3 and swiftly put together a compelling riposte, keeping the Superchargers on their toes. It took a while for the onslaught to come, but it did through Bethell when he carted Mitchell Santner for three successive sixes. At the halfway stage, Phoenix had 90/3, with both batters looking primed to blaze away further.

In the next set, the pair took the team to 100. Rashid, however, pulled things back for his team with a googly that Bethell miscued. The leggie ran back from his bowling mark and put in a full dive to complete a great take. New batter Louis Kimber couldn't keep up the tempo that was set by the previous pair and the asking rate climbed.

With 63 to get from 20, Livingstone hit Rashid for a six but fell on the next delivery, effectively bringing a fatal halt to the chase. Tom Lawes followed that up with a double-wicket set, and Matthew Potts and Jacob Duffy closed out the win with tight, wicket-taking sets.

Brief Scores: Northern Superchargers 193/5 in 100 balls (Dawid Malan 58, Zak Crawley 45, Harry Brook 31*, Michael Pepper 28; Chris Wood 2-34) beat Birmingham Phoenix 157/9 in 100 balls (Jacob Bethell 48, Liam Livingstone 46; Matthew Potts 3-26, Adil Rashid 2-26, Tom Lawes 2-23) by 36 runs