MI London Eliminated from The Hundred 2026 Despite Securing a Narrow Win Over Phoenix

MI London’s hopes of winning the Hundred 2026 came to an end even though they beat bottom-placed Birmingham Phoenix in a close final group-stage match.

The game took place at Edgbaston where MI London needed to win by at least 59 runs to move above Sunrisers Leeds into third place and book a spot in the play-offs. Phoenix won the toss and chose to bowl first, making the task even tougher for the visitors.

MI London posted 157 for 6, meaning they had to keep Phoenix to 98 or fewer to stay in the competition. They made a strong start with three wickets in the powerplay. Sikandar Raza bowled Joe Clarke, while Richard Gleeson removed Mitchell Owen and Laurie Evans with back-to-back deliveries.

Joe Weatherley and Sean Dickson then put together a steady partnership to bring Phoenix back into the game. A wide from Tom Curran took Birmingham Phoenix to 99, ending MI London’s hopes of reaching the play-offs.

Dickson was then dismissed for 23 off 17 balls after Sam Curran trapped him lbw. Afterwards, Curran removed Weatherley for 42 off 31, leaving Phoenix in trouble.

Jordan Thompson kept their hopes alive with an unbeaten 23 from 13 balls, while Rehan Ahmed added a quick 23 off 11. But Trent Boult stayed calm in the final overs and delivered accurate yorkers to help MI London secure a two-run win.

Earlier in the first innings, Will Jacks gave MI London a good start but was dismissed by Chris Wood after hitting the ball to deep point. James Vince also looked comfortable early on, while Nicholas Pooran got going quickly by hitting Tom Helm for 10 runs from two balls.

Rehan Ahmed then slowed MI London’s scoring with his spin. He trapped Sam Curran with a googly and gave away only three runs from his first 10 balls, including six dot balls in a row.

Pooran made 36 from 21 balls before Jordan Thompson dismissed him at long-off. Rehan then claimed his second wicket by removing Jason Roy for just 26 runs. Despite taking 2/7 from 15 balls, Rehan was surprisingly not brought back to finish his spell.

Sikandar Raza then scored 17 off 13, while debutant Ollie Sykes made an unbeaten 23 to give MI London a fighting score. Despite these hard efforts, their total was never enough to give them a realistic qualification chance, which is why they got eliminated even after winning the latest contest.