Southern Brave’s men follow their women’s team into action on the same ground, hosting Welsh Fire at the Utilita Bowl on Wednesday, July 22, at 6:30 PM local (11:00 PM IST).
Welsh Fire arrive with the most expensive squad overhaul of the auction, headlined by Phil Salt, snapped up for a competition-record £450,000 and now captaining a Welsh heritage side for the first time.
Southern Brave, the inaugural 2021 champions, beat this same opponent by just 4 runs at this ground last season on the way to a fourth-place finish. Both teams open their 2026 campaign here.
SOB vs WEF Match Details
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Match | Southern Brave vs Welsh Fire, 2nd Match |
| Series | The Hundred Men’s Competition 2026. Season opener for both franchises, played straight after the women’s fixture at the same venue. |
| Date | Wednesday, 22 July 2026 |
| Time | 6:30 PM BST local / 5:30 PM GMT / 11:00 PM IST |
| Venue | Utilita Bowl, Southampton. Southern Brave’s home ground. |
| Format | 100-ball innings per side, five sets of 20 balls, no bowler allowed more than two sets. |
| Captains | Chris Jordan (Southern Brave), Phil Salt (Welsh Fire) |
| Form | SOB: Won the inaugural title in 2021 and finished fourth last season, beating this same Welsh Fire side by 4 runs at this ground along the way. WEF: Best finish to date is fourth place, back in 2023, and the men’s side is still searching for a maiden title after six seasons. A near-total squad refresh this auction, led by Salt’s record fee, is aimed at changing that. |
| H2H | The two sides met at this venue last season, with Southern Brave completing a tight 4-run win over a Welsh Fire side that finished bottom of the table that year. Given how much both squads have turned over through the auction, treat that result as recent history rather than a form guide. |
Dream11 Team for SOB vs WEF, 2nd Match
Top Picks for SOB vs WEF, 2nd Match
| Player | Team | Role | Key Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Root | WEF | Captain / Batter | Captain pick. Strong recent franchise T20 numbers. Classy top-order anchor. At 2x. |
| Phil Salt | WEF | VC / WK | Vice-Captain pick. New Welsh Fire captain, record £450,000 signing, competition’s all-time leading run-scorer. At 1.5x. |
| Jofra Archer | SOB | Bowler | Genuine new-ball wicket-taking threat for Brave when fit and firing. |
| Marcus Stoinis | SOB | All-Rounder | Power-hitting finisher who can also chip in with useful medium pace. |
| Marco Jansen | WEF | All-Rounder | Left-arm pace with the new ball plus lower-order hitting for Fire. |
Pitch Report
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Venue | Utilita Bowl, Southampton. Southern Brave’s home ground since the competition began in 2021. |
| Pitch Type | A traditionally fair surface for both bat and ball, with some early seam movement followed by good conditions for stroke-play once batters are in. |
| Scoring | Men’s matches at this ground have averaged around 147 in the first innings across recent Hundred fixtures here, with totals crossing 150 in roughly three of every ten games. This figure is worth cross-checking against ESPNcricinfo Statsguru before publishing, since it comes from a smaller sample and a secondary aggregator. |
| Pace vs Spin | New-ball pace from the likes of Jofra Archer and Lockie Ferguson should find some early assistance, with spin from Adil Rashid and Rachin Ravindra coming into it through the middle sets. |
| Toss Factor | The Utilita Bowl has not historically shown a strong toss bias in the men’s competition, so expect captains to lean on conditions and team balance rather than a fixed script. |
Weather Report
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Temperature | Around 26°C (78°F) during the day, cooling into a pleasant evening for the 6:30 PM start. |
| Sky | Mostly clear and sunny through the afternoon and into the evening session. |
| Rain Chance | Low, roughly 10 percent. A full, uninterrupted match looks likely. |
| Humidity | Moderate, with some chance of added swing once the lights come on. |
| Overall | Good batting and bowling conditions for the opening night of Southern Brave’s home campaign. |
SOB vs WEF Toss Prediction
Neither side has fresh toss data from this season to lean on, since this is the tournament opener for both. Given the Utilita Bowl’s fairly even split between bat and ball historically, expect the toss winner to weigh up cloud cover and pitch dryness on the day.
**If Chris Jordan (Southern Brave) wins, **expect him to bat first in front of a home crowd, trusting David Miller and Tristan Stubbs to accelerate through the middle before backing Jofra Archer and his own new-ball pace to defend a total under lights.
**If Phil Salt (Welsh Fire) wins, **In his first game as captain he may look to set the tone himself at the top of the order, with Joe Root and Rachin Ravindra building through the middle before Marco Jansen and Lockie Ferguson look to close out the defence with pace.
Injury and Team News
Southern Brave:
Southern Brave head into the season under Chris Jordan, a franchise stalwart since their 2021 title-winning campaign, now leading the side for the first time.
The squad blends power-hitters David Miller and Tristan Stubbs with the seam-bowling threat of Jofra Archer, if fit, alongside Adil Rashid’s spin. No injury concerns have been reported for the squad ahead of the opener, though Archer’s workload is always worth monitoring given his fast-bowling history.
Welsh Fire:
Welsh Fire enter 2026 with arguably the biggest squad refresh of the men’s auction, built around new captain Phil Salt and headlined by Joe Root’s return to the format and South Africa’s Marco Jansen.
The Welsh-heritage side is chasing a first men’s title after six seasons without silverware, and Salt has spoken about how big a draw the Sophia Gardens roots and home comforts were in signing for the franchise. No injury concerns have been reported for the squad ahead of the opener.
