NICK HOWSON: It was almost cruel at times watching the winless Cardiff franchise trying to chase at Lord's. A web, spun by Liam Dawson, Dan Lawrence and Mason Crane did the business for a Spirit side who are genuine title contenders
Ever been to a play where the actors don't know the words, the acting is sterile, cues are missed and it looks as though the costume and set designers drew their ideas from a charity shop around the corner?
The audience sits there, in silence. But they're fully aware of the farce they're watching, the cast knows it, and the theatre staff and crew know it. But no one says anything. The experience is watching it all unfold, in the knowledge that everyone else is experiencing the same pain.
Welsh Fire are putting on the vaudeville of the men's Hundred competition, but the joke is on them. Their ludicrous campaign is the Edinburgh Festival show no one knew about.
The squad is all wrong for the competition. They lack enough variety with the ball, particularly in the seam attack. Jake Ball, David Payne, George Scrimshaw and Ryan Higgins have gone more than 1.54 runs a ball during the 2022 competition.
It was no coincidence to see Ish Sodhi come straight in and impress, with his ability to spin the ball both ways, challenge each side of the bat and he skid the ball through on a tough surface. The rest made it look comfortable.
Lawrence claimed four wickets for just the fifth time in his career (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
And the batting line-up has been woeful. Pack your top-three and have a couple of finishers to boot, is generally the route to success in this tournament. But Tom Banton and Joe Clarke haven't hit form, Josh Cobb doesn't compare with most No.3s on show and that brings David Miller and Matt Critchley to the crease too early.
Critically, they've been hit with absences both foreseeable and unfortunate. Jonny Bairstow pulled out before a ball had been bowled, wishing to take a break, but Naseem Shah, Adam Zampa and Noor Ahmad have been called up by their respective countries.
Cobb has been dealt a rough hand, having been installed as captain at short notice. The Bairstow problem is an issue, not least because Fire appear to be building a team around an unavailable player.
It was almost cruel to watch Fire try and chase down 157 to win at Lord's, like peering behind the curtain to see the lead still learning their lines. And that wasn't just because they faced an opposition captain in Morgan - who traditionally prefers to chase - who would have relished their predicament.
Unlike Cobb, he had the options to call upon. It took 17 balls for the first boundary and after 25 they only had 21. Three of the four lowest powerplay totals have been registered by the Cardiff franchise.
When Dan Lawrence came on and beat the defences of Cobb and Jacob Bethell, making his second appearance of the Hundred when he should have been playing for Warwickshire in the Royal London Cup, that was Morgan trying to squeeze in a set with Fire on the back foot. It was a dreamy outcome to see two wickets fall.
Ben Duckett is bowled by the impressive Lawrence (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Mason Crane then displayed his list of variations, with a focus on length ball and then throwing in a googly, as only a dozen came from his back-to-back sets. Lawrence would then follow up with 10 balls in a row of his own and picked up Miller.
His four-for was the fifth of his career, two of which have come for Chingford against South Hampstead and Chinghoppers. You suspect more saw this one.
"Taking a wicket is a bit of a Brucie for me," said the player of the match, who bowled his full set for the first time in the competition. "It is not something that I would usually do, but it was great to take a couple of wickets and contribute to the team."
It was another case of a one-sided finish in this peculiar tournament where drama has been lacking. Who knows if the assembled masses care about that, but surely close matches add a layer of entertainment to an evening that fireworks and a DJ booth don't.
But at least you could see why. This London Spirit side is five from five, virtually into the last three, have defined roles and are built to challenge. Fire are largely a team of ringers, making up the numbers. Perhaps they can take inspiration from their opponents, who propped up the table last season, but that is a silver lining disappearing into a mist of misery.
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