WEF vs ML brings together two unbeaten sides in The Hundred Men’s 2026 when Welsh Fire host MI London at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Saturday, 25 July, with the men’s leg starting at 6:00 PM BST (10:30 PM IST).
Welsh Fire opened their campaign with a six-wicket win over Southern Brave, while MI London (formerly Oval Invincibles) demolished Sunrisers Leeds by seven wickets behind a Nicholas Pooran blitz. Something has to give in Cardiff.
WEF vs ML Match Details
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Match | Welsh Fire vs MI London, Match 6, The Hundred Men’s 2026 |
| Date, Time | Saturday, 25 July 2026, 6:00 PM BST / 10:30 PM IST |
| Venue | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff |
| Format | 100-ball innings, 5-over Powerplay, 2-innings match |
| Captains | Phil Salt (Welsh Fire), Sam Curran (MI London) |
| Form | WEF: Beat Southern Brave by 6 wickets, chasing 136. Phil Salt hit 47* off 37 and won Player of the Match. ML: Beat Sunrisers Leeds by 7 wickets. Sam Curran and Nicholas Pooran combined to devastating effect, with Curran making an unbeaten 60 from 39 balls while Pooran smashed a 19-ball fifty, the fastest in the franchise’s history. |
| Franchise Note | MI London used to be Oval Invincibles. Oval Invincibles, men’s champions for three straight years, are now MI London, backed by the Ambani family’s Mumbai Indians empire. |
Both sides walk in on the back of a win, so this is genuinely a form-versus-form clash rather than one team chasing the game.
Dream11 Team for WEF vs ML, Match 6
Top Picks for WEF vs ML, Match 6
| Player | Team | Role | Key Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Pooran | ML | WK / VC | Fastest fifty (19 balls) in the franchise’s history, straight off the back of a 58* opening night. |
| Sam Curran | ML | Captain / AR | Unbeaten 60 in the opener, plus new-ball overs. Genuine points from both disciplines. |
| Joe Root | WEF | Captain pick / Batter | Anchor of the Welsh Fire top order. Low dismissal risk, consistent returns. |
| Phil Salt | WEF | WK / Captain | Player of the Match in the opener with 47* off 37. Explosive top-order option. |
| Rashid Khan | ML | Bowler | Removed Harry Brook in his opening spell and is the go-to middle-overs wicket-taker for ML. |
Pitch Report
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Venue | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Compact boundaries, home of Glamorgan since 1967. |
| Pitch Type | Historically bowler-friendly early, then eases out. The venue has hosted 142 T20 matches, with sides batting second winning 80 of them against 62 wins for teams batting first |
| Boundaries | Short and sharp. The ground’s relatively compact dimensions help spinners extract vicious turn, and batters unfamiliar with the surface often misjudge the pace of the outfield in the early overs. |
| Atmosphere | Sophia Gardens on a full-house July evening produces a noise level unlike anywhere else in The Hundred, and fielding sides report the crowd as a tangible presence. |
| Toss Factor | Marginal lean toward bowling first and chasing, though a big total is well within reach given the small boundaries. |
Weather Report
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Temperature | High of roughly 23°C, dipping to around 15°C once the evening session kicks in. |
| Sky | Cloudy spells expected through the day. |
| Rain Chance | Low, around 10 percent. A full match is likely. |
| Overall | Comfortable, slightly cool conditions for a night game. No major weather disruption anticipated in Cardiff. |
WEF vs ML Toss Prediction
Sophia Gardens has a slight bowl-first bias once the lights come on, so whoever wins the toss will probably send the opposition in and chase.
If Phil Salt (Welsh Fire) wins the toss, expect Welsh Fire to field first. New-ball options Chris Woakes and Marco Jansen will look to strike early against the explosive MI London top three of Jacks, Vince, and Roy, before Lockie Ferguson and spinner Jafer Chohan try to squeeze the middle overs. Welsh Fire would then chase behind Salt’s form and Root’s steadiness.
If Sam Curran (MI London) wins the toss, MI London will likely bowl first too, trusting Trent Boult’s left-arm swing and Rashid Khan’s variations to unsettle Welsh Fire’s batting. Pooran and Curran, both fresh off match-winning knocks, would then chase behind a top order that already looks in ominous touch.
Injury and Team News
Welsh Fire
Welsh Fire opened their season with a confident chase against Southern Brave, and there is no fresh injury concern heading into this game.
Phil Salt’s form with the bat is the headline story after his Player of the Match knock, and Joe Root’s return to franchise cricket adds genuine batting depth. Rachin Ravindra and Matthew Short give the middle order power, while Lockie Ferguson brings raw pace to the new ball.
MI London
MI London go into this match with momentum after a comfortable seven-wicket win in London. Will Jacks was cleaned up early by Brydon Carse, and Jason Roy nicked off soon after, but Pooran’s 58* alongside Sam Curran’s unbeaten 60 rescued the innings.
No fresh injuries have been reported, and the same XI that beat Sunrisers Leeds should travel to Cardiff largely unchanged. Rashid Khan’s leg-spin remains their sharpest middle-overs weapon, and Trent Boult adds proven new-ball control.
