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Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer star as Brave get over line in Super Five

Jofra Archer screams after dismissing Dan Mousley Getty Images

Birmingham Phoenix 126 for 7 (Livingstone 55) tied with Southern Brave 126 for 6 (Vince 43, Milne 3-18)
Super Five Southern Brave 11 for 0 beat Birmingham Phoenix 7 for 2

Southern Brave beat Birmingham Phoenix in a thrilling Super Five contest at the Kia Oval to book their place in the Hundred final at Lord's.

Chris Jordan was the match-winner in a nerve-shredding encounter, hitting 10 from three balls after Jofra Archer had limited Phoenix to a total of 7 from their Super Five.

Liam Livingstone had looked set to take Phoenix to final with 55 off 34 balls, but when he fell in the final set of his side's innings, Akeal Hosein defended three from three to bring around the first-ever Super Five in ghe Hundred.

In the first innings of the match, James Vince made 43 for Southern Brave and Leus du Plooy 39. Jordan struck two sixes in the final set bowled by Sean Abbott which would ultimately prove crucial - a taste of things to come from the bat of the England allrounder.

Phoenix's run chase got off to a slow start but with contributions from captain Moeen Ali and Jacob Bethell the Birmingham side began to close in on the target.

Livingstone was in full control - hitting Archer out of the ground - but his dismissal and some late drama saw the scores level at 126 apiece.

Batting first in the five-balls-per-side contest, Livingstone was unable to atone for his late dismissal - falling first ball, flashing a full toss from Archer to backward point.

Bethell smashed the second ball wide of long-on for four, but no more boundaries were forthcoming - leaving Jordan and Kieron Pollard needing to surpass 7 to make Lord's.

Jordan got a slice of luck to inside-edge his first delivery for four behind square on the leg side, and followed up with a two and a four to see Brave make the Hundred final for the second time.

Meerkat Match Hero, Archer, said: "Just relieved to be honest, I thought I'd given it away in that second to last over."

On his last three deliveries, he said: "You've just got to commit to it. Some days it happens for you and some days it doesn't and I'm just glad today is one of the days that it worked for me.

"We've got 11 match-winners and the guys that are not in the XI are match-winners themselves, so the team has so much talent it doesn't matter what team we put out there, I back the guys all the way."

Phoenix 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st9MM AliBM Duckett
2nd17MM AliJL Smith
3rd19MM AliLS Livingstone
4th48LS LivingstoneJG Bethell
5th9LS LivingstoneDR Mousley
6th9BAC HowellLS Livingstone
7th13SA AbbottLS Livingstone
8th2SA AbbottAF Milne