Betbarter Zambia T10 Cricket League | Roundup Day 2 - Mohsin Agaz’s all-round heroics steal the show; Lusaka Heats fail to register win
Mohsin Agaz and Connor Fletcher steal the show on Day 2
|Day 2 of the Betbarter Zambia T10 Cricket League saw Kabwe Stars, Ndola Blitz, and Kitwe Kings emerge victorious with their batting and bowling prowess in full display. Mohsin Agaz’s all round performance and Connor Fletcher’s unbeaten half-century were the highlights of the day.
Godfrey Kandela remains unbeaten in Kabwe Stars victory
Brief scores: Kabwe Stars 96/4 (Godfrey Kandela 34* off 23 and Haveliwala 1/17) beat Kitwe Kings 95/4 (Patel 48* off 30 and Agaz 1/11) by six wickets (4 balls remaining)
Winning the toss and electing to field first against Kitwe Kings, Kabwe Stars’ bowling attack provided a strong resistance by bagging a wicket in the very first over. The second-wicket partnership, 49 runs, between opener Madhawa Kawshal and captain Himal Patel turned out to be the innings defining stand. However, after Kawshal fell to pacer Mohsin Agaz, in the 6th over, the skipper couldn’t form any significant partnership and ended up being the lone warrior for Kitwe Kings, taking the team to a total of 95/4 while remaining not out on 48 off 30.
Chasing 96, Kabwe Stars, too, faced an early blow as opener Ayaz Dadabhai fell to Allan Nsensha in the very first over. However, the other opener Ashraf Lulat wasn’t swayed by losing his partner early. After another failed partnership with wicketkeeper-batsman Isaac Mwaba, Lulat finally found stability in the third-wicket stand with Godfrey Kandela. The latter batted through the chase, remained not out on 34 off 23, and with the help of a brilliant cameo Mohammade Baidu (20* off 8) took the team to a six wicket victory with four balls remaining.
Connor Fletcher turns gigantic mode on to crush Lusaka Heats
Brief scores: Ndola Blitz 88/1 (Fletcher 51* off 29 and Rankwar 1/17) beat Lusaka Heats 86/8 (Mohammed Kadva 26 off 19 and Green 2/8) by nine wickets (5 balls remaining)
The sixth fixture of the Betbarter Zambia T10 Cricket League was held at the Lotus Sports Club Ground in Lusaka, between Ndola Blitz and Lusaka Heats. As the Blitz won the toss and opted to field first, the Heats batsmen found it difficult to cope with the bowling attack. After a restricted start, the openers tried to score big in the second over but that led to successive wickets in the next couple of overs putting the side at a precarious position with 25/4 on the board. However, top-order batsman Mohammed Kadva (26 off 19) stuck to his task amidst the chaos as wickets kept falling on regular intervals leaving the Heats void of a good partnership. Losing eight wickets, with James Green, Richard Parker and Oliver Snart bagging two wickets each, Lusaka Heats struggled and could only manage 86/8 in 10 overs.
In reciprocation to the target of 87, Ndola Blitz started off strong with the firepower of Connor Fletcher in full display. The opening partnership between Fletcher and Aiden Hawksworth survived through the first six overs piling a score of 59/0 on the board before the stand was broken in the 7th over when Rankwar got rid of the Hawksworth (23 off 18). However, there was no stopping Fletcher who raced to the target and remained unbeaten on 51 off 29 balls as Blitz won the game by nine wickets in 9.1 overs.
Tausif Panchibaya spins Lusaka Heats out of the game
Lusaka Heat 63/8 (Patel 14 off 13 and Panchibaya 3/4) lost to Kabwe Stars 64/5 (Lulat 20 off 13 and Javid Patel 2/10) by five wickets (8 balls remaining)
On winning the toss, Kabwe Stars asked Lusaka Heats to bat first and it was instantly bad news for the latter. The opening pair of Nitin Jesani and Sebaj Patel struggled to score against the attack of Tapson Nyirongo and Mohsin Agaz. The Stars didn’t have to wait for their first breakthrough for long as Nyirongo dismissed Jesani in the 3rd over there wasn’t much relief for the Heats who lost wickets at alarming regularity. After the opening stand was broken, Tausif Panchibaya and Gladson Kandela with three wickets each continued to keep the pressure on the Heats who finished the innings with a total of 63/8 in 10 overs.
Chasing a sub-par target of 64, Kabwe Stars too got off to a slow start and lost their first wicket, in the form of Allan Nsensha, in the second over. However, his opening partner Ashraf Lulat (20 off 13) displayed another good performance and stayed in the middle until the sixth over. Despite some great resistance from Javid Patel (2/10), a late unbeaten show from Agaz (14* off 8) took the Stars to 64/5 in 8.4 overs.
Kings openers hand Ndola Blitz crushing 10-wicket defeat
Brief scores: Kitwe Kings 78/0 ( Bangliwala 47* off 28) beat Ndola Blitz 77/6 ( Green 30 off 18 and Bhad 1/14) by 10 wickets ( 3 overs remaining)
The proceedings of Day 2 of the Betbarter Zambia T10 Cricket League came to a close with Ndola Blitz taking on Kitwe Kings. The Kings batted asked Ndola Blitz to bat first and that turned out to be great news for them as Aiden Hawksworth was run out. However, with Connor Fletcher in the middle the Blitz had less to worry about and the opener added a good 24 off 14 before departing in the 3rd over. Following that, James Green (30 off 18) and captain James Squire (20 off 24) put up a great third-wicket stand of 40 runs. However, the innings was flooded with run outs and the two batsmen fell victim to the amazing fielding displayed by the Kings. In the end, Ndola Blitz managed to put up a total of 77/6 in 10 overs.
In reciprocation to the target of 78, Kitwe Kings openers Azhar Bangliwala and Madhawa Kawshal looked took only the first over to settle down following which the blitz started. The two claimed 21 runs off the second over, bowled by Craig Stow, and 14 runs off the third over delivered by James Green. It was clear that there was no stopping them if not for a major breakthrough but that didn’t happen to the Blitz bowlers. Bangliwala (47* off 28) was on the top of his game and remained unbeaten, so was his partner, as they completed the chase in the 7th over, handing a 10-wicket defeat to Ndola Blitz.
