WF vs LS, Review | Jonny Bairstow’s heroics go in vain as Welsh Fire suffer an eight-run loss at Cardiff

08/10/2025

London Spirit ended their losing streak in the Hundred Men’s competition after a nail-biting eight-run win against the Welsh Fire at Cardiff. While David Warner shines with runs at the top, Jonny Bairstow’s explosive 86-run knock goes in vain as Spirit bowlers keep their nerve in the end.

‌The Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to field first, hoping to take advantage of the overcast conditions. The abundance of seam movement and bounce proved tough for the London Spirit opening duo of David Warner and Kane Williamson as they were restricted to 29/0 in the powerplay. The Spirit skipper was dismissed in an attempt to up the scoring rate by Josh Hull,giving a simple catch. Despite the dismissal, Warner still looked set at the crease and started to form an important partnership with Jamie Smith at the other end. Though the runs were coming slow and steady, the team had plenty of wickets in hand at the halfway stage, with the score reading 60/1 after 50 balls. The runs started flowing in the second half as Warner and Smith managed to smack Welsh Fire spinner Chris Green for 19 runs. Though Smith was dismissed after a quickfire 26 off 14 deliveries by Hull in the next over, Ashton Turner took over as the aggressor at the other end while Warner controlled the innings. With 59 runs coming off the next 25 deliveries, the London franchise were in a decent position at 119/2 after 75 balls. Despite running out of partners, the Aussie opener made sure that the runs were coming at one end. While Warner remained unbeaten on a score of 70 off 45 deliveries, another 44 runs came in the last 25 balls as the London franchise finally finished on an above-par score of 163/5 in the first innings.

Welsh Fire needed a good start to chase down the total. Unfortunately, they ended up losing three quick wickets with Steve Smith, Luke Wells, and skipper Tom Abell getting dismissed cheaply. The home team was in a tricky position at 30/3 after the first 25 deliveries. The situation for Fire never improved with Jonny Bairstow trying to steady the innings, but continued to lose partners at the other end. Three wickets went down in the next 25 deliveries, and Fire were in a precarious position at 58/6 halfway into the chase, needing 106 off the last 50 balls. While it seemed like the game was going the Spirit's way, Green and Bairstow formed a crucial partnership to keep the game alive. The duo’s 7th wicket stand brought the equation down to 38 off the last 15 deliveries. Though Richard Gleeson kept his nerves in his last over, Bairstow managed to get a couple of big hits away in Jamie Overton’s over to leave 17 runs of the last five balls of the innings. The last over was bowled by Luke Wood, who started the over with two dot balls, which came down to 17 needed of the last three. In the end, Bairstow only managed eight runs in the last three deliveries as his unbeaten knock of 86 off 50 and a 100-run stand with Green went in vain. Fire ended up losing the game by eight runs as Spirit ended their losing streak in the tournament.

David Warner was the player of the match for his unbeaten knock at the top for the London Spirit.