CHRIS Jordan described teammate James Vince as a “class act” after the Southern Brave captain guided the defending champion to a comfortable nine-wicket win over Welsh Fire, writes Jamie Green.
Vince hit an unbeaten 71 from 41 balls to continue a stunning run of form in white ball cricket that propelled him to the top of the run-scoring chart in the Vitality Blast and his chances of a recall in England ahead of the T20 World Cup in October has increased .
“He has to have as good a chance as anyone (to get into the England T20 World Cup squad),” Jordan said. “He’s been in consistent form all summer.
“I’m not sure if you’re asking him if he’s thinking about it at the moment given his focus on Southern Brave, but whatever follows after that depends.
“Vincey is a very good leader and a top guy. He’s so pleasing to the eye, especially when he’s playing that beautiful cover drive. He’s always a few steps ahead of the game. Any moves he makes seem to land.”
Brave’s sweeping victory maintains their 100 percent home record in the Men’s and Women’s Hundred, but Jordan, 33, isn’t giving up on hopes of back-to-back winners’ medals.
The veteran England international added: “It’s a great feeling to start with a home win.
“Last year the support was incredible and it was great to see so many people come out in the first season and give them a decent show too. Hopefully we can build some momentum from that.
“After winning it last year and not having a good start, we really wanted to have a good start this year. That’s a good benchmark that we set tonight.
“We have great faith in our own squad but cricket is still being played that day. We still have to respect our opponents and keep our feet on the ground. We’ll take it one game at a time and see where we get to.”
Ben Duckett, who had the highest score for Fire at 40, acknowledged that playing the Brave in the Ageas Bowl was a particularly difficult start to their campaign.
But the former captain promised the Cardiff-based side would continue their positive approach with the racquet where they lost three wickets on the power play ahead of their first home game against Oval Invincibles on Sunday.
“I’d say next time we’re going to be tougher,” Duckett said. “Unfortunately if you try to take the positive option you can get results like tonight, but I think you can lose more games in a tournament if you start moving away from what you’re trying to do.
“I feel like we’re an even stronger team this year. With pace, power, and wrist twist, we’ve got all the bases covered.
“From start to finish we were beaten by the better team who know the dimensions of this terrain very well. Losing regular wickets didn’t allow us to get going on a large site where it’s hard to hit boundaries. Vincey captains here all year round and it’s a very difficult place to come here and win games.”
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