The Analysis: Chris Benjamin announces himself with match-winning cameo for Birmingham Phoenix

NICK FRIEND looks back on the key moments from Birmingham Phoenix's win over London Spirit

Chris Benjamin, remember the name...

No one knew about Chris Benjamin a fortnight ago. Since then, he has signed a rookie contract with Warwickshire, made debuts in the T20 Blast and Royal London Cup and then, once Adam Hose was ruled out of The Hundred, became an unlikely star of the new competition.

The 22-year-old South African only recently completed a degree in accounting and finance at Durham University, but any need for those qualifications might now take a back seat for the foreseeable future.

Warwickshire knew of his white-ball pedigree when they offered him a deal; he had already launched 149 off 66 balls for the county’s second team in a T20 against Glamorgan – the highest score in the history of the club’s second string.

Doing it on the big stage, though, is a different ballgame entirely. And faced with a match in the balance when he strode out to the middle at 96 for 4 with just 35 deliveries remaining, he announced himself to all those watching with a tremendous, victory-clinching cameo with two sixes off Blake Cullen that shifted the scales into the hands of the home side.

His first was more daring, so much so that Kevin Pietersen on commentary could only let out an astonished screech, moving legside before reverse-pulling a short ball over the wicketkeeper’s head. Two balls later, he pulled the same bowler over square leg. And at that point, the contest was all but done.

Chris Benjamin, remember the name. The second team circuit feels a long way away now…

^{Birmingham Phoenix's men's team won their first game on home soil}

Milne proves his worth

Adam Milne last played a List A match three years ago, which seems a crying shame, if only because his outstanding skillset deserves as wide an audience as possible. These days, he is a T20 specialist, travelling the world as a gun for hire in the shortest format of the game.

But on nights like this, it is difficult not to wonder what New Zealand’s already excellent attack might look like if Milne – of Lockie Ferguson’s pace – was available to turn out in all formats alongside Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee et al. His last ODI came in 2017, but he has become a reliable, box-office attraction: in this year’s Big Bash, he bowled a four-over spell at a cost of just six runs and was later rewarded with an Indian Premier League gig with Mumbai Indians, a franchise run so well that their interest at an IPL auction is as great a compliment as any.

So, when Shaheen Shah Afridi dropped out of The Hundred, it was in the direction of Milne that Birmingham turned. He was already in the UK on T20 Blast duty with Kent, where he took six wickets in three games through late June and early July.

And in the space of 20 balls in Birmingham Phoenix’s first game, he had proven his significant worth. From the off, Milne approached 90mph and peaked at 93mph, conceding just 18 runs in the process. He claimed the big wicket of Josh Inglis and then took a belting catch off his own bowling to see the back of Ravi Bopara.

Bopara had struggled to get going but when he lashed a length delivery back in Milne’s direction, he’d have been forgiven for thinking he might have found the boundary for the third time. Instead, the New Zealander waved out his right hand and plucked a stunner out of the air in his follow-through. Pietersen and co-commentator Simon Doull wondered whether the competition would see a better catch – that might have been an exaggeration, but it was quite a show from a terrific cricketer who, by the time this all ends in August, might just look like one of the signings of the summer.

Liam Livingstone is at it again.#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/OIbaj6jawp

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) July 23, 2021

Crawley finds his form

Oh, what London Spirit would do to have access to Zak Crawley beyond the second round of fixtures. Instead, of course, he will be on Test duty against India, having rediscovered his touch in white-ball cricket after a poor start to his campaign in the County Championship and during the two-Test series against New Zealand.

Over the next month, this will be an intriguing balance for English cricket to manage: five Tests against India and the ECB’s new flagship tournament being played out simultaneously, with the twin challenges of beating Virat Kohli’s men while also retaining the very best players possible for a competition that needs a fast start.

It is why there has been some frustration around Jonny Bairstow’s inclusion presumably as a backup wicketkeeper to Jos Buttler. Bairstow is Welsh Fire’s captain and best player, perhaps the most destructive batter in the entire competition on the evidence of recent years in England colours and his IPL exploits with Sunrisers Hyderabad. Whether his time will be better spent running drinks for Joe Root’s men or lighting up The Hundred is a discussion worth having.

In the case of Crawley, England’s No.3 incumbent, there is less debate; despite his first-class struggles this year – and frankly, he has been short on red-ball runs since his 267 against Pakistan – England are keen to persist with the 23-year-old’s talent.

On the evidence of recent weeks, going back to his surprise ODI debut once England’s first choice squad had been forced into self-isolation, his form is returning at the right time.

He made a half century on international 50-over debut and tonight recorded the first fifty in the history of The Hundred men’s competition, albeit ultimately in a losing cause. He slog-swept beautifully, using his reach to drag the bowlers legside and almost carried his bat through the 100 balls, even if he only faced 40.

^{Moeen Ali made 40 for Birmingham Phoenix in their run-chase}

Liam Livingstone hits the longest ball

My God, he hits a long ball, doesn’t he?

Fresh from clearing Headingley last week and enhancing his reputation with the fastest T20I hundred by an England cricketer, Liam Livingstone was at it again. This time, Edgbaston’s stands proved high enough to keep the ball within the confines of the ground, but it still flew 102m.

Advancing at Cullen, the young Middlesex seamer, he whacked him back over long-off like he was at the top of the first tee to add another belter to a fast-growing reel of highlights.

Mason Crane waits his turn

The day started with quotes from Shane Warne championing Matt Parkinson’s cause for inclusion in England’s Ashes plans for the winter but ended with the great Australian leg-spinner leaving Mason Crane out of his first team selection as London Spriit head coach, especially once Eoin Morgan had namechecked the burgeoning partnership between Warne and Crane as master and apprentice. His time will come, no doubt.