Abhishek Singh ∙ 2 Aug 2021
Plunkett, Ngidi ruled out of The Hundred, Jimmy Nessham’s contract extended
With Lungi Ngidi pulling out of The Hundred for personal reasons, Jimmy Neesham, who was to be replaced by the South African sees the extension of his contract at Welsh Fire. The Kiwi, who was supposed to return back to Essex for their Royal London Cup campaign, will now stay at Fire for the entirety of The Hundred. Neesham was the hero for the team in red in their second game when the Blackcaps international took 3 wickets in his five deliveries against Southern Brave to turn the game upside down. Liam Plunkett, who was injured after the opening Fire match against Northern Superchargers has been ruled out for the entire season due to injury and would be replaced by Kent pacer Matt Milnes. The Fire are also without their skipper Jony Bairstow, who is on national duties with England. To replace, him, Fire have called upon Northamptonshire's left-arm spinner Graeme White. All these efforts have been put up to rebalance the squad after the team lost its first-ever game in the competition when they were beaten at home by Manchester Originals. With two wins from three games, the Fire currently sits in third place on the table behind Trent Rockets and Manchester Originals.