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27 August 2025, 21:22 BST
Joe Root called for patience to be shown with Rehan Ahmed after the 21-year-old continued his fine form in The Hundred in Trent Rockets’ three-wicket victory over Birmingham Phoenix at Trent Bridge
Leg-spinner Ahmed took an immaculate 3-15 as Phoenix were restricted to 111-9 on a slow pitch and then hit 37 from 23 balls at number three to break the back of the chase.
He hit five fours and one six – the only time a Rockets batter cleared the boundary – and put on 64 for the second wicket with Root, who made a run-a-ball 25.
Ahmed’s wickets also took him to 10 in this year’s Hundred, while he has an economy of 6.76 – the second best of any bowler to have played more than four matches behind Jofra Archer.
“To see how he has taken to this tournament, given the responsibility to bat at number three, he has thrived,” England batter Root told Sky Sports.
“He has got all the shots. He can hit everyone everywhere. He will get better at understanding when and what time to do that.
“He is so difficult to bowl at because he can score all around the wicket and he puts bowlers under pressure from ball one.”
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Ahmed became the youngest man to play Test cricket for England when he made his debut against Pakistan in 2022 but, while he has played another 20 times across formats since, he has not featured this year.
His form in The Hundred follows a County Championship season in which he has scored five centuries and taken 23 wickets in Division Two for Leicestershire, leading to calls for him to travel to Australia for the Ashes this winter.
He has already been recalled to England’s white-ball squads for one-day international and T20 matches against South Africa and Ireland in September.
“He is a huge talent,” added Root. “He works so hard and has the right attitude.
“He is going to get things wrong now and again – he is 21.
“He offers a lot with bat and ball, and has great hands in the field. In red-ball cricket, he is getting better too.
“I hope there is patience with him and not too much expectation too early.”
How ‘huge talent’ Ahmed shone
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Ahmed’s Rockets were already guaranteed a place in Saturday’s eliminator and only had to avoid a heavy defeat by Phoenix to secure second in the table.
The visitors reached 42-1 before Ahmed had Will Smeed bowled with a googly via an inside edge for 23 and Jacob Bethell caught reverse sweeping to backward point for a three-ball duck in his first spell, after which the scoring ground to a halt.
He returned to have Benny Howell slog-sweeping to deep mid-wicket for three and did not concede a boundary until Dan Mousley hit his final delivery for six.
After Ahmed dazzled with the bat, Rockets made hard work of their chase with his dismissal starting a collapse of 4-11.
After Marcus Stoinis and Sam Hain followed, England’s Bethell was left with six runs to defend from the last five balls but Ben Cox swept the penultimate ball for four to seal victory.
Rockets meet Northern Superchargers in the eliminator on Saturday with the winners progressing to face Oval Invincibles.
What is happening on Thursday?
The group stages conclude on Thursday, with unbeaten Southern Brave taking on struggling Welsh Fire in the women’s competition at 15:00 BST.
The men’s game follows at 18:30 BST.
You can follow ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.
