On behalf of Ranjith, Sudeep, Valkerie and Matt, this is Rvel signing off. The second men's game is about to start and you won't want to miss the all-important last few fixtures of the group stage. Follow it here
Match abandoned as there is not enough time for ground-staff to clear it up before 18:10
James Vince: Bowling first, they probably got away from us little it, sloppy in the field particularly. good players got going,(Can't) shut them down, It's gonna be a tough ask to chase that down, we had a few messages saying weather might be on its way so just trying to weigh out how to approach first 25 balls, thankfully the rain came just in time. (on his dismissal) obviously 25 balls constitute a game, so at the start of that set, I found out I think it was 42 or 43 after 25 balls, think I left about 22 off 10 balls, had a message that the the game wasn't going to go too much further, trying to get to 43-run mark in case we did stay out there till 25 ball delivered. On the whole, bowling gets a lot of credit because it's due, quality bowlers, experienced bowlers, well known around the world...I think the batting goes under the radar a little bit, ideally we'd like few more guys in form, on the whole, we have been reasonably consistent
Oh dear, that will be a tough pill to swallow for the Welsh Fire, who ticked all the boxes with the bat and had the upper hand in this game. However, it was overcast throughout the day, and with relentless rain pouring down, the prospects of a timely restart were near impossible. It's a sad end for the Fire, but Brave will be pretty chuffed about it--they have locked in a spot in the top three. Vince can smile now. Teams will split the points
It continues to rain with no signs of abating; it looks bleak out there, but we're still 40 minutes away from the cut-off time, so there's a chance to sneak in nine more deliveries or maybe I'm being too optimistic
Craig: "Disappointing the umpires took the teams off when they did especially when the rain was no heavier and we were only 9 balls from a result. Robbed Welsh Fire of a deserved win. " Well, Cricket can be unfair sometimes, just like life. Weather is always a huge factor when it comes to cricket in the UK. You can't rule it out
DaWolf: "Why is the latest time to restart so early? It doesn't feel like a particularly long rain delay, and it's still early in the evening."
Gav: "18.10 latest time. Don't help themselves much to get a game. I get there's another game starting but surely you give it longer to try get a result "
18:10 is the latest possible restart time to complete the 25 balls needed
5:10pm: Valkerie Baynes has got an update for us: "Rain has gotten worse at Southampton. Bowlers' run-ups under cover now and fans trying to tough it out in the stands up to this point are making their way under cover"
Got to feel for Vince because he was having a long chat with the on-field umpires before this delivery, perhaps trying to figure out the DLS equation, and that might have distracted him. Maybe the umpires needed to be more proactive once the rain started to get heavier but the damage is done as far as Brave are concerned. The hover cover is out
mohit: "If the match gets washed out, who wins? Is there a 5-over minimum requirement here as well? 25 is the minimum requirement and Brave will make it to the playoffs if there's no result
DaWolf: "Hopefully the rain stops long enough to get a result. Only another 9 balls needed. After that batting effort, Fire deserve the win."
JM Vince b Henry 19 (13m 8b 4x4 0x6) SR: 237.50
Ground staff have taken their positions outside the rope. It's still very overcast and now it has started to rain
END OF OVER:3 | 17 Runs | SB-M: 21/1 (161 runs required from 17 overs, RR: 7.00, RRR: 9.47)
- James Vince19 (7b)
- Leus du Plooy1 (6b)
- David Willey1.5-0-20-1
- Matt Henry0.5-0-1-0
END OF OVER:2 | 1 Run | SB-M: 4/1 (178 runs required from 18 overs, RR: 2.00, RRR: 9.88)
- Leus du Plooy1 (6b)
- James Vince3 (2b)
- Matt Henry0.5-0-1-0
- David Willey0.5-0-3-1
END OF OVER:1 | 3 Runs 1 Wkt | SB-M: 3/1 (179 runs required from 19 overs, RR: 3.00, RRR: 9.42)
- James Vince2 (1b)
- Leus du Plooy1 (2b)
- David Willey0.5-0-3-1
AL Davies b Willey 0 (1m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
Big total, so an all-out attack approach is needed to even get close to this target. No point hanging around; they've got to charge and make use of the powerplay