Welsh Fire Men have given themselves a great chance to join the Women and make the knockout stages of The Hundred.
Welsh Fire kept alive their hopes of making Saturday’s eliminator with an eight-wicket win over Northern Superchargers at Headingley.
Stephen Eskinazi’s fifty set Fire on their way, before Jonny Bairstow hit 44 and Joe Clarke 42 to lift the visitors to victory.
Fire will reach the eliminator if Manchester Originals beat Southern Brave on Wednesday. The Women have already qualified and will face Northern Supercharges once again on Saturday at The Oval.
Welsh Fire Men and Women did the double over London Spirit in their final home game of the season, which saw a record-breaking crowd witness the Women secure a spot in the playoff places.
England star Sophia Dunkley led the way with 68 and 2 for 15 as Welsh Fire qualified for The Hundred finals weekend for the first time.
It was also a record attendance for a Women’s Hundred game in Cardiff of 7,069. They enjoyed watching the home side reach 161, a total no team has topped in this year’s competition apart from Welsh Fire themselves.
The Men then kept their hopes of qualification alive in a must-win affair, the seamers doing the damage with the ball before Jonny Bairstow top-scored with 40 as they chased down 110.
New Zealand pair Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson impressed in their first game while David Willey and David Payne also took advantage of a seam-friendly wicket, all taking two wickets each.