Kane Richardson has won his second player of the match award in The Hundred, his three-wicket haul proving key in Birmingham Phoenix's 10-run win over the Oval Invincibles.
The South Australian paceman has been in excellent form as the Phoenix's strike bowler, adding another individual honour to the 'match hero' accolade he won with a similar match-winning display against the Welsh Fire 10 days earlier.
The 31-year-old international's latest tour de force came at the Oval on Tuesday, taking his wicket tally for the tournament to 10 - a figure only surpassed by Invincibles' Sunil Narine.
With Invincibles chasing what looked a sub-par total of 6-166 on a good pitch on their home turf, Richardson immediately boosted the opponents' push by trapping Will Jacks, one of the stars of the tournament, lbw with the fourth ball of the innings.
Later, with the match evenly poised and into his third block of five deliveries, Richardson then changed the entire complexion of the match with two big wickets in successive balls.
First up, his yorker had too much pace for the dangerous Jordan Cox, who'd moved menacingly on to 32, and next ball, he trapped Sam Billings leg before, a decision which was upheld on review.
"Yeah, it's a tough ground to defend on, so the the way we shut it down at the end was nice. They're a team that just keeps coming," reckoned Richardson after his display helped push Birmingham into the key third qualifying position in the standings.
Tom Helm, who finished with 3-11, also produced a double-wicket, five-ball 'over' near the end to prevent any possibility of a late charge from the Invincibles, with Richardson modestly suggesting the Englishman should have won the player of the match award rather than him.
"That's massive, that Tom Helm over - he should probably be standing here to be honest," smiled Richardson, after watching Helm get rid of both dangerous Curran brothers, Sam and Tom, in the same 'over' as Invincibles fell short on 8-156.
Earlier, Liam Livingstone (45 from 32) and Moeen Ali (42 from 25) had led the way for the visitors, with Aussie wicketkeeper Matthew Wade also chipping in with a handy 21 off 12 balls, featuring two fours and a six.
