The Hundred men’s competition, Edgbaston

MI London 157-6 (100 balls): Pooran 36 (21); Ahmed 2-7

Birmingham Phoenix 155-7 (100 balls): Weatherley 42 (31); Gleeson 2-29

MI London won by two runs

Scorecard. Table

MI London were eliminated from The Hundred despite posting a hard-fought two-run victory against Birmingham Phoenix in their final group game at Edgbaston.

Having won the previous three men’s titles in the guise of Oval Invincibles, MI needed to win by 59 or more runs to leapfrog third-placed Sunrisers Leeds on net run-rate and reach the Eliminator.

Instead, they finished fourth, level on points with second-placed Manchester Super Giants and Sunrisers, who will face each other in the Eliminator at The Oval on Friday, with the winner taking on table-toppers Trent Rockets in Sunday’s final at Lord’s.

After setting Phoenix a target of 158, Richard Gleeson struck twice early for MI to boost their hopes of restricting their opponents to below the required 98.

But Phoenix fought back from 23-3 through Joe Weatherley and Sean Dickson as the duo all but extinguished the visitors’ chances.

When captain Sam Curran finally trapped Dickson lbw for 23, MI needed to take six wickets for 18 runs to keep their Eliminator dream alive.

That dream was mathematically over after 66 balls of the innings when Phoenix reached 99-4, confirming the three-time champions’ elimination.

Weatherley fell for 42 from 31 balls at 114-6, but Jordan Thompson and Rehan Ahmed took the chase to the final ball, where Trent Boult’s excellent death bowling wrapped up the campaign with a narrow win.

Earlier, Nicholas Pooran led the way with 36 from 21 balls for MI who batted first after losing the toss, while Jason Roy made 26 and James Vince struck a brisk 22 from 12 deliveries as the visitors kept the score ticking despite losing regular wickets.

They finished strongly with Ollie Sykes’ 23 not out and Tom Curran’s unbeaten 17 from nine balls helping them reach 157-6.

Phoenix finished bottom of the table with only one win from eight matches.

The Hundred men’s competition, Sophia Gardens

London Spirit 131-8 (100 balls): Bairstow 34 (19); Jansen 2-16

Welsh Fire 125-7 (100 balls): Cox 44 (28); Willey 3-20

London Spirit won by six runs

Scorecard. Table

Earlier on Wednesday, Welsh Fire were also eliminated as they suffered a six-run defeat by London Spirit in their final group match in Cardiff.

The hosts’ hopes of progressing were slim even if they had won because of their net run-rate of -1.001, and were handed a target of 132 by Spirit.

They looked on course for a routine win as Joe Root and Jordan Cox produced a 47-run stand to take them to 90-2.

Root departed for a run-a-ball 31 but Cox accelerated to reach 44 from 28 balls, leaving his side needing 15 to win from eight balls with six wickets in hand.

But Fire then lost Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Rachin Ravindra in quick succession, with Marco Jansen needing a six from the final ball to level the score.

Jansen slapped David Willey over mid-wicket hoping to clear the rope but was caught by Jamie Overton in the deep as they finished narrowly short.

Sent out to bat first, Spirit never fully gained momentum as the Fire bowlers produced a disciplined display to restrict the visitors to 131-8.

Jonny Bairstow’s 34 from 19 balls provided the early impetus for Spirit while James Coles and Overton also added 29 and 21 respectively.

But none were able to convert their starts into a substantial innings as Chris Woakes and Jansen picked up two wickets apiece.

Fire ended their campaign in fifth place with four wins from eight games, while Spirit finished seventh with three wins.

The competition takes a brief break on Thursday before the knockouts start on Friday.

Both the men’s and women’s Eliminator matches will take place at The Oval with Sunrisers Leeds facing Southern Brave in the women’s competition from 14:15 BST.

Meanwhile, Manchester Super Giants will face Sunrisers Leeds in the men’s Eliminator from 18:00.

The finals at Lord’s follow on Sunday with Trent Rockets’ men’s and women’s sides awaiting the winners of the Eliminators.

You can follow ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.