Aussie pace bowler Riley Meredith cranked it up in front of a raucous Cardiff crowd, taking 4 for 9 as Welsh Fire defeated Manchester Originals by 25 runs.

There were also three-fors for both Chris Green (3 for 19) and David Payne (3 for 14) as a brilliant fielding and bowling performance earned Fire a much deserved win.

Bowling first, Originals got off to a flying start, Sonny Baker having Jonny Bairstow caught by Lewis Gregory at slip with his fifth ball.

Fire reached 28 for 1 after the powerplay, 22 of the runs to Steve Smith, including a stunning six over point off Josh Tongue.

Tongue soon got his revenge, seeing Smith caught behind for 26. Fire then lost Luke Wells to Scott Currie for 13, reaching 57 for 3 at the halfway point.

Tongue returned to remove Abell (22) and Currie got rid of Saif Zaib (15), both caught behind by Jos Buttler, the Fire innings threatening to fizzle out at 108 for 6.

Chris Green added some late impetus, striking two sixes in his nine-ball 19, as Fire closed on 137 for 8, Currie (3 for 21) and Tongue (3 for 25) the pick of the Originals’ attack.

A brilliant burst of 3 for 6 from 10 balls by Riley Meredith saw the backs of Phil Salt (3), McKinney (10) and Mark Chapman (0), Salt spectacularly caught at deep backward-square by Green, as the Fire started well on top.

Buttler began the counterattack, hitting Paul Walter for back-to-back boundaries, but the Fire struck a huge blow when they had Heinrich Klaasen (11) caught in the deep off Green.

Buttler kept going, bringing up his fifty from 28 balls with a six off Green, but the off-spinner then struck twice, taking the key wickets of Buttler (57) and Gregory (21), both caught at deep midwicket by Abell, before Payne and Meredith cleaned up the tail.

Meerkat Match Hero Chris Green said: “It was a lot of fun. The last two games here have been an amazing atmosphere. The support here in Cardiff has been fantastic and it was great to reward that support with a win here tonight.

“Tommy Abell thought 130 was defendable, there was a bit of hold for the off-cutters for the seamers and a bit of hold for the spinners as well.

“Riley Meredith was outstanding up front and probably should be standing here because I thought he broke the game open. The energy we had and the support we had tonight got us over the line and we go into a big game in London on Saturday.”

Brief scores:
Welsh Fire 137 for 8 in 100 balls (Steven Smith 26, Luke Wells 13, Tom Abell 22, Tom Kohler-Cadmore 26, Saif Zaib 15, Chris Green 19; Sonny Baker 1-29, Josh Tongue 3-25, Scott Currie 3-21, Tom Hartley 1-23) beat Manchester Originals 112 in 97 balls (Ben McKinney 10, Jos Buttler 57, Heinrich Klassen 11, Lewis Gregory 21; Riley Meredith 4-09, Chris Green 3-19, David Payne 3-14) by 25 runs

[Cricinfo]