David Warner claimed player of the match honours as his maiden half-century in The Hundred guided his London Spirit to an eight-run victory against Steve Smith’s Welsh Fire in Cardiff.
Warner no doubt claimed the bragging rights over his former Australian captain as his unbeaten 70 off 45 balls lifted the Spirit to a match-winning total of 5/163 from their 100 balls.
Smith then fell for three off five balls in reply, caught at third man after an attempted scoop off former Melbourne Renegades seamer Richard Gleeson.
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Smith was the first wicket to fall in the Fire’s innings and it was the first in a collapse of 6/55.
Smith’s opening partner Jonny Bairstow (86* off 50) then threatened to pull of a miraculous victory for the hosts with the support of Australian Chris Green (31* off 21) in a century partnership.
But former Melbourne Stars seamer Luke Wood closed out victory for the Spirit, defending 17 from the final five balls.
Opening the batting alongside New Zealand great Kane Williamson, Warner smashed eight fours and two straight sixes for the Justin Langer-coached side.
The left-hander admitted post-game that the Fire’s run chase got a little too close for comfort.
“That got very close at the end, and credit to the way Jonny and Greeny batted. They were absolutely superb,” Warner said.
“The partnership they built was fantastic, and what it did do was what we’re trying to do here – entertain the crowd and hopefully everyone was excited by that game.
“I think what the guys were saying there was that across the last 25-30 balls it wasn’t that stoppy. It skidded, but it was still slow in the wicket. We tried to execute as well as we could but Jonny was on fire there, he was hitting the ball cleanly and obviously we got over the line but it was a good effort by them.
“When you’re out there batting, the five balls and then 10 balls from one end – you think you have to change ends as a batter.
“I’m getting used to it, but what I am loving is the crowds. It’s fantastic. It’s all about the kids, and us trying to put entertainment on the TV – credit to everyone who came out today, thank you.
“This is a really important win for us. We lost our first game at home but we’ve got an away game in Manchester coming up, and hopefully we can tick that off.”
Warner is joined in the Spirit line-up by fellow Australian Ashton Turner (24 off 14), while Australian quick Riley Meredith (1/26 off 2o balls) opened the bowling for the Fire.
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