3 Welsh Fire Players who could end up with most wickets in The Hundred Men’s Competition 2021

Welsh Fire are one of the eight franchise teams set to take part in the first-ever edition of The Hundred in UK. Based in Cardiff, team Welsh Fire will be representing the historic counties of Glamorgan, Somerset and Gloucestershire in the maiden 100-ball competition, starting July 22.

Welsh Fire will be playing four home and four away fixtures during their eight-match league stage campaign to try and seal one of the top 3 spots in the points table. If they finish on top of the standings, Welsh Fire will get a direct entry into the tournament final scheduled for August 21 at Lord’s.

While their squad includes a few explosive batsmen, they also have some decent bowlers up their sleeves, including the likes of Liam Plunkett, Qais Ahmed, Jake Ball among others. And it’s on these gents that their fortunes will  depend heavily.

With focus on bowlers today, we enlisted a few names from the Welsh Fire bowling attack that could get on a roll with the ball and end at the top of the wickets chart in The Hundred.

Also Read: 3 Southern Brave Players Who Could End Up With Most Wickets In The Hundred Men’s Competition 2021

Welsh Fire bowlers who can finish as The Hundred’s top wicket-taker

1. Qais Ahmad

Afghanistan wrist-spinner Qais Ahmad has slowly but surely risen into prominence at the global T20 stage. The 20-year-old leggie has become a popular feature at leagues such as the CPL, BBL and PSL.

Ahmad has been in the UK ahead of his maiden stint in The Hundred for Welsh Fire. The spinner has been playing for Kent in the ongoing T20 Blast where he has taken 5 wickets at an economy rate of 7.16.

Ahmad’s wicket-taking ability will be crucial to Welsh Fire’s plans as they would hope that he can derail the opposition’s progress through the middle-overs and make life slightly easier for other bowlers in their line-up.

2. David Payne

Gloucestershire seamer David Payne is also part of the Welsh Fire squad for The Hundred. Payne, like Qais, provides much-needed variety to the Welsh Fire attack with his use of the left-arm angle.

Also Read: Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred 2021 : Updated Squads for Men’s and Women’s Tournaments 

Payne has gone decently well in the T20 Blast this season with 10 wickets from 8 games, albeit at an expensive economy rate of 8.84. He has taken 125 wickets from 101 matches in his overall T20 career while giving away 8.38 runs per over.

3. Jake Ball

A tall bowler with decent pace, it’s a surprise that despite carrying the threat that troubles most batsmen, Jake Ball hasn’t quite cemented his place in the England Test or limited-overs sides.

But the pacer can take heart from the recent turn of events as he has been brought back in the ODI squad for the ongoing Pakistan series after ending with a bagful of wickets for Nottinghamshire in the T20 Blast this season.

Albeit expensive, the bowler took 18 wickets from his 9 outings for the Notts before he was handed an England comeback. Welsh Fire will hope that he can improve the discipline aspect of his bowling and help them claim the coveted title.