England pacer Chris Wood surpassed Ravichandran Ashwin on the list for bowlers with the most wickets in a country in T20 cricket. He is currently tied with India pacer Jaydev Unadkat, with 225 wickets each to their name at home. Among England players, Wood stands fourth, as Danny Briggs tops the list. David Payne and David Willey hold the second and third spots, respectively.
Meanwhile, Wood surpassed Ashwin in the match against Northern Superchargers in the ongoing Hundred. The 35-year-old picked up two wickets of Dawid Malan and David Miller as the Superchargers posted 193 runs on the board in the first innings. The openers set the tone for the game in Leeds, as Malan smacked 58, while Zak Crawley scored 45.
After their dismissals, captain Harry Brook played a blistering cameo of 31 runs off just 15 balls. Later, Dan Lawrence made a quickfire 15 as the Superchargers posted a defendable total on the board.
Livingstone, Bethell’s effort went in vain
When it came to the chase, Birmingham Phoenix struggled to get going as their top order failed to live up to the expectations. Will Smeed once again had a rough outing, scoring just one run. His opening partner Ben Duckett made 11, and batting at number three, Joe Clarke made 13. Phoenix were reduced to 27/3 and things were looking tough for the team, but that’s when Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell provided some stability.
The duo stitched a partnership of 80 runs, but that wasn’t enough. Livingstone and Bethell departed for 46 and 48 runs, respectively and things got worse for them. Had one of them stuck till the end, Phoenix would have had a chance, but after their dismissals, wickets fell like a house of cards as the Superchargers registered a comfortable 36-run victory. Matthew Potts was the star with the ball, picking up three wickets, while Adil Rashid, Jacob Duffy and Tom Lawes clinched two each.