Harry Brook smashed the fastest Hundred century but it proved in vain as Welsh Fire kept alive their hopes of making Saturday’s eliminator with an eight-wicket win over Northern Superchargers at Headingley.
Brook crashed a scintillating 105 off 42 balls but found little support as Superchargers posted 158 for seven.
Stephen Eskinazi’s fifty set Fire on their way, before Jonny Bairstow hit 44 and Joe Clarke 42 to lift the visitors to victory.
Fire will reach the eliminator if Manchester Originals beat Southern Brave on Wednesday.
Brook, who was left out of England’s World Cup squad last week, played a remarkable lone hand to lead a Superchargers recovery.
Matthew Short, Tom Banton and Adam Lyth all departed inside the first 20 balls to leave Superchargers reeling at 10 for three, having won the toss.
Brook began patiently alongside Adam Hose, but exploded into life after Hose fell to David Payne after 33 balls.
He produced an audacious ramp over third for six from a searing Lockie Ferguson bouncer and hit Roelef van der Merwe down the ground for another thumping maximum.
Brook was running out of partners as Adil Rashid fell to the left-arm spinner and David Wiese was run out by Tom Abell to leave the total at 92 for seven.
But Brook marched on undeterred, reaching 50 from 24 balls, and hit the accelerator by smashing 19 from Luke Wells’ five-ball set.
The right-hander combined outrageous power with pure timing, hammering Ferguson down the ground for a six which landed on the Sky Sports commentary pod.
With 10 balls of the innings remaining Brook was on 76 but he surged to his century with two more sixes and four fours as 30 came from those final 10 deliveries.
Momentum was with the hosts but Eskinazi soon set about changing that.
The right-hander hit two sixes from Reece Topley’s second set, before being given a life as Topley and Matthew Potts left a high catch to each other.
Eskinazi made the most of his reprieve, crashing his way to 50 from just 19 balls, including three sixes, with Fire well placed on 66 without loss after 40 balls.
The introduction of Rashid applied the brakes – especially to Bairstow who had just eight from his first 18 balls.
Rashid then made the key breakthrough, bowling Eskinazi for 58 from the 51st ball, with Fire needing 82 more to win.
Bairstow began to find his fluency as he and new batter Clarke both launched sixes off Wiese, before Callum Parkinson’s 10-ball set ended badly with a six off Bairstow followed by a no-ball which cost four runs.
Fire were cruising to the win, needing 19 from 20 balls, but Brook emerged again with a stunning boundary catch to remove Bairstow for 44 – looping the ball up first to himself and then to Hose to avoid carrying it over the rope.
But Clarke took his side home, hitting 42 from 22 to keep Fire’s hopes burning.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
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