Kabwe Stars vs Kitwe Kings

Kabwe Stars, after winning the toss, asked the Kings to bat first and were able to break the opening partnership in the first over itself as Azhar Bangliwala was shown off by Tausif Panchibaya. Following that, the second-wicket stand between Madhawa Kawshal and Sarfraz Nomani did survive the next few overs, making way for a 36-run partnership. But after that was broken in the sixth over, wickets fell in quick succession and James Zimba bagged three wickets in his 2 overs, conceding only 8 runs. Despite a one-man show by Nomani (36 off 20), Kitwe Kings could only manage a total of 79/8 at the end of 10 overs. 

Ndola Blitz vs Lusaka Heats

Brief scores: Ndola Blitz 110/7 in 10 overs (Connor Fletcher 43 off 24 and Mukesh Rankwar 1/16) beat Lusaka Heats 79/5 in 10 overs (Aditya Kelkar 26 off 18 and Greg Geldenhuys 3/17) by 31 runs

Chasing 111, the unrest in Lusaka Heats’ batting was evident right from the start as both openers lost their wickets within the first 20 deliveries. There was some hope for the Heats when Javid Patel (23 off 20) and Aditya Kelkar (26 off 18) were involved in a 38-run third-wicket stand but it was unreasonably slow and not helping the chase in any way. After Patel’s wicket in the 7th over, the lack of intent in the chase was more evident. Kelkar remained in the middle for long but couldn’t make a difference as he watched three other wickets fall, two of which were in the account of Greg Geldenhuys (3/17). Even though they had five wickets in hand at the end of 10 overs, Heats only managed to put up a total of 79/5 and handed a 31-run win to the Blitz.

Kabwe Stars vs Ndola Blitz

Impressive Ndola make it two in a row

Having ravaged Kitwe Kings in their previous game, chasing, a confident Kabwe Stars had no hesitation in electing to field after winning the toss. And they couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the encounter, as after just four balls, a mix-up between the two openers resulted in Craig Stow walking back to the pavilion for a duck. However, the wicket turned counterproductive for the bowling side James Green, batting at No.3, blitzed his way to an eight-ball 22 before departing to Godfrey Kandela. Wicket-keeper Connor Fletcher, too, chipped in with a handy 22, but lack of resistance from the middle-order batters saw Ndola Blitz get reduced to 68/6 from 42/1 in the span of just four overs. The destroyer in chief was Kandela, who recorded otherworldly figures of 3/12 in his two overs. However, just when it looked like they were going to squander the advantage, some lusty blows from Aiden Hawksworth (23 off 16) and Keyle Russel (11 off 5) pushed Ndola Blitz’s score to 94/7. 

Lusaka Heats vs Kitwe Kings

Javid Patel blitz propels Heats to convincing win

Having lost their previous game against the Warriors batting first, Kitwe Kings decided to field first, this time around, after winning the toss but they were instantly a victim of the wrath of opener Nitin Jesani, who scored a 12-ball 21. Heats raced off to 30/0 in just 2.3 overs, but Jesani’s surge was cut short by Joyeb Chand, who sent the opener packing. Mehul Patel, who was batting with a strike rate under 100, first watched his partner Jesani tee off, then watched his namesake Javid Patel, who came in to bat at No.3, go berserk, while he was still on single digits. Javid Patel picked up right where Nitin Jesani left as he propelled the side to 62 under 5 overs, before Mehul (4 off 8) was sent back to the pavilion. The wicket of Mehul mattered little for Javid, as he went on an absolute rampage to scorch the Kings’ bowlers. Javid carried his onslaught till the very end as he ended unbeaten on 75* to propel the Heats to 118/3.

Chasing 119 was already a tough ask, but it became a hundred times tougher when the Kings lost their openers, Azhar Bangliwala and Sarfraz Nomani, for scores of 1 and 0 respectively. At 10/2, they needed to show some resistance and that came in the form of a fine 29-run partnership between Madhawa Kawshal and skipper Himal Patel before the former perished with the score 39. Despite losing Kawshal, skipper Patel carried on and single-handedly attacked the Heats bowlers, but, to his dismay, he got no support from the rest of the batsmen, who kept throwing away their wickets. Patel raced off to 40 off 19 balls, striking two fours and three sixes, but by then, his side had just three wickets in hand, still needing 32 runs in 11 balls. Eventually, he perished on the penultimate ball of the 9th over, after which his side were bowled out for 90. Viswanadha Mudunuri, who finished with figures of 3/19, was the star of the night with the ball for the Heats.