Dan Mousley celebrates with his Birmingham Phoenix teammates after sealing victory against Trent Rockets

After a slow start, the 2024 men’s Hundred came to life at Trent Bridge as Dan Mousley took 3-3 from the final 10 balls to seal a smash and grab victory for Birmingham Phoenix. But the most remarkable thing about the comeback was the manner in which it was delivered.

With two sets to go, the game looked dead and buried. Trent Rockets were strolling towards victory, requiring just another 10 runs with steady hands Lewis Gregory and Rashid Khan at the crease, and Imad Wasim and Jordan Thompson waiting in the wings.

Birmingham skipper Moeen Ali was limited in his options. Trent had been ahead of the game for the majority of the run chase, requiring just a smidgeon over seven runs per (six-ball) over in old money at the halfway point with eight wickets in hand.

Their seamers were getting some reverse swing so Moeen understandably stuck to pace in an attempt to find the breakthrough that would bring his side back into the game. With two sets of five left, he had five balls of seam, from Australia’s Sean Abbott, at his disposal.

At least five deliveries would have to be bowled by a spinner – either Moeen, Liam Livingstone or Mousley – who up until that point had bowled a solitary set each. Moeen decided to hand the ball to Mousley, the 23-year-old whose rising stock is more to do with his batting than his bowling.

How Mousley’s death spell played out

Bowling from around the wicket and approaching the crease with a ‘run-up’ of no more than five yards, Mousley fired in a length ball first up to Gregory, cramping him for room. The Rockets skipper tried to pull Mousley through the leg-side but was late on it – Mousley had his first dot ball.

What followed was astonishing. Mousley - nominally a slow bowler - bowled neither slowly nor with much attempt at spin, instead attempting nine consecutive yorkers. The first two, to Gregory, were nailed, bringing about a dot ball before bowling the former England all-rounder with a delivery clocked at 73mph.

With Birmingham in danger of not making the cut-off time (after which they would be forced to bring in an additional fielder into the ring), Mousley was racing between balls – in the space of 30 seconds, the equation had been reduced from 10 off 10 to 10 off seven with a new man facing up.

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There were no surprises in what Wasim encountered first up – another fast yorker, this time clocked at a slightly suspicious reading of 83mph, that he was able to dig out for a single through the off-side bringing Rashid on strike for the first time against Mousley.

Mousley opted for the yorker again but this time slightly over-pitching it. Rashid was also proactive with his footwork, giving himself room to free his arms. The pace still hurried the star Afghanistan all-rounder, however, and he could only take a single to the man sweeping on the off-side. Suddenly, Birmingham needed eight off the final set. They missed the cut-off time but an additional fielder inside the ring wasn’t necessarily a hindrance: stopping singles would aid in their cause.

Given how well Mousley had gone with his previous five deliveries it was no surprise to see Moeen ask his young tyro to go again, but it was still a brave call to veer away from what previously had been working well for Birmingham.

 

 

Off the first delivery of the final set, Wasim was also proactive with his feet but went the opposite way to Rashid – moving across his stumps in an attempt to access the shorter side of the ground. Mousley followed him, perfectly executing a wide yorker that Wasim failed to hit off the cut strip. Trent now needed two runs a ball.

Mousley’s seventh ball was clubbed to long-on along the floor bringing Rashid back on strike with seven required from the final three. Birmingham, for the first time in the run chase, were ahead. Using all his experience, Moeen slowed the game down, strolling over to Mousley for a chat.

Whatever was said in their short conversation seemed to work. Mousley fired in at the base of off stump at 76mph. Rashid tried to carve it square on the off side but he was beaten and bowled. Mousley had another. The remarkable comeback was on.

That wicket brought Jordan Thompson to the crease, the Trent hero with the ball in their own remarkable victory over Manchester Originals two nights previously. At this point, Mousley bowled his worst ball of the over – a good old fashioned full bunger. But Thompson was late on it, attempting a big heave but skied it, gifting Tim Southee a simple enough catch in the in-field to put Mousley on a hat-trick with seven to defend off the last ball.

There was to be no hat-trick but Mousley didn’t care. After nailing yet another yorker to close out the game, he wheeled away in celebration, roaring as he whizzed past the stump mic having completed one of the more remarkable spells of death bowling seen in the English domestic game in recent years.

A new way of bowling at the death?

Could it be a glimpse of the future, or is this a one-off? Well, Mousley’s record at the death is outstanding, albeit from a relatively limited sample size. He has an economy of just 7.01 runs per six balls across 130 deliveries at the death of T20 games. You can see why he is so effective, too.

He is much, much quicker than a normal spinner. While speed gun readings in the Hundred need to be taken with a pinch of salt, he was clearly bowling well in excess of 70mph. His run-up is also very short, even for a spinner, starting from a yard or so behind the umpire, giving the batter very little time to get into unorthodox positions to access behind square of the wicket.

 

 

The speed (or lack thereof) of his run-up also makes it easier for him to adjust to any premeditated movement from the batter, as he did to both Rashid and Wasim. The economy of movement that his action possesses also makes executing the yorker a more straightforward task than it is for pace bowlers. The yorker, if executed correctly, remains the most economical ball in the game. The risk is that, if you miss it, full tosses and half volleys travel. Given this, in some way it’s a surprise that asking fast, accurate spinner to target the blockhole hasn’t seen much use as a tactic.

Either way, his performance last night showed that Mousley is a youngster who relishes the big occasion – one who does not crumble under pressure. England are likely to undergo a major reset in limited overs cricket at the end of this summer and even before last night, Mousley, as a left-handed middle order batter who is an aggressive sweeper, was already in contention for that Australia series coming up in September.

Whatever happens next, Mousley has already provided the men’s Hundred with an overdue moment that will stay with those who watched it for a long time.

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