That brings us to the end of the coverage of this fantastic encounter between Wellington Firebirds and Central Stags. It was Wellington Firebirds day today as they sneaked away with a victory. Do join us for all the upcoming games from all around the globe. For now, it's me Hitesh Peddurwar signing off along with my co-commentator Tugral Azmi and scorer/analyst Raju Khariya. Until then stay safe...
Peter Younghusband (Wellington Firebirds Skipper): "There was a lot of pressure in the last couple of over as that duo (Clarkson and Bruce) hit an outstanding shot it was absolutely amazing. Finn Allen and Nick Kelly gave us such a brilliant start that the rest of the work became easy for us and we were able to set a big target. Milne did the same thing again today that he showed in the first game of this season. He knows how to bowl in the final over."
Tom Bruce(Central Stags Skipper):" Yeah we have got good power hitters in the middle order.215 was a huge target, it was tough to chase on still good that we got near to the target. Yeah, 80 off the first six overs really hurt us, no matter who ever is batting we can't give too many runs at the start. We have had a hell of a game today, over 400 runs scored today."
Nick Kelly (Player of the match):"I have just taken full advantage of the opportunity because this ground has short boundaries, only then we have been able to see such a close encounter. And the ball was also coming well on the bat, so I took full advantage of it. Allen is an attacking batsman, and his style of play is amazing, I get a lot of confidence while playing with him."
10:29 AM IST| That's it!!! Wellington Firebirds have managed to hold their nerves and have won this game by 2 runs. We have witnessed a fantastic encounter today.
Earlier in the match, Central Stags won the toss and invited Wellington Firebirds to bat first. Firebirds were off to a scintillating start, Finn Allen and Nick Kelly came with all guns blazing and glued a partnership of 80 runs for the first wicket. Firebirds were 80/1 after the powerplay.
Firebirds lost a couple of wickets in the middle overs but the short cameo by Logan Van Beek off 21* runs off 7 balls helped Firebirds to get to a total of 214 runs. Nick Kelly was the top scorer for the Firebirds as he scored 58 runs off 25 balls. From a bowling point of view, Jayden Lennox and Tom Bruce scalped a couple of wickets.
While chasing a mammoth target of 215 runs, Stags got off to a disastrous start. They lost their first wicket in the second over and were put under pressure straight from the word go. Smith and Cleaver glued a partnership of 54 runs for the 2nd wicket but they failed to score the runs at a brisk rate.
It looked like Stags will be unable to even get near to the total. But credit goes to Tom Bruce and Josh Clarkson. Josh Clarkson and Tom Bruce put up a show in the later half of the innings. They glued a partnership of runs for 79 runs off 41 balls for the 5th wicket.
Josh Clarkson scored 55 runs off 25 balls. Tom Bruce took the mantle once Josh departed, Tom was hitting the bowl cleanly. 24 runs came off the 19th over, and in the last over Stags needed 17 runs to win the game. Tom nearly took his team over the line, in the end Stags fell just short of 2 runs to get over the line. Tom Bruce scored 56 runs off 23 balls.
From a bowling point of view, Rachin Ravindra was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped three wickets for his team.
With this victory, Wellington Firebirds remain unbeaten this season so far and Central Stags are yet to open their account this season.
W Run-Out AGAIN!!! Bangs it short, outside the off stump. Johnson fails to connect it with the bat and is set off for a run. Collum throws it to Milne who collects it quickly who does the rest. Johnson finds himself short of his crease at the non-striker's end. He is gone by a mile as Central Stags is losing their way by 2 runs.