In a match dominated by the ball, Oval Invincibles beat Welsh Fire by 10 runs in an exciting encounter in Cardiff.
Although they only posted 113-9, the Invincibles’ bowling unit stopped their hosts from chasing down the modest total.
Asked to bat by Welsh Fire captain Tom Abell, the Invincibles lost Dawid Malan almost immediately as he flicked David Willey to midwicket. Will Jacks and Tawanda Muyeye responded well in the powerplay, but Welsh Fire’s talented seam arsenal stuck to their task. Jacks fell victim to Josh Little, finding the hands of Mason Crane on the long square leg boundary (25 from 15), and Jake Ball and Willey removed Sam Billings and Muyeye respectively to leave the Invincibles struggling at 58-4 at the halfway mark.
Donovan Ferreira (30 from 23) and Sam Curran (20 from 21) provided some resistance in the face of the Fire onslaught, but the Invincibles never really got going, with wickets continuing to fall at regular intervals, and Ball ending as the pick of the Welsh Fire bowlers taking three for 24.
Defending 113 was always going to be a tough ask for the Invincibles, and it was made all the more so when Jonny Bairstow was dropped on four by Harrison Ward off the bowling of Saqib Mahmood before Australian Spencer Johnson made up for it a few balls later.
After Curran bowled Joe Clarke with the first ball of his spell, the Invincibles spinners spearheaded the attack. Zampa continued his good form picking up the wickets of Abell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (22 from 33) and Willey, while Sowter removed Glenn Phillips and Luke Wells.
Some big hits from David Payne (28 from 15) and Glamorgan's own Mason Crane took the game to the final few balls, but Curran held his nerve to secure the win.