Betbarter Zambia T10 Cricket League | Kabwe Stars down Ndola Blitz to clinch ZT10 title
After an enthralling battle in the allotted 20 overs failed to separate the two sides, Kabwe Stars overcame the challenge of Ndola Blitz in a super over to be crowned the inaugural Betbarter Zambia T10 Cricket League champions. Godfrey Kandela, for his spell of 3/3, was named Man of the Match.
Brief scores: Kabwe Stars 84/8 off 10.0 overs ( Ashraf Lulat 23 and Aiden Hawksworth 3/18) beat Ndola Blitz 84/9 off 10.0 overs (Greg Geldenhuys 22 and Godfrey Kandela 3/3) via Super Over
Badcock and Greenâs heroics in vain as Stars beat Blitz in Super Over
After winning the toss, Ndola Blitz inserted the Kabwe Stars into bat, but the decision did not go down too well for the bowling side, who failed to pick a single wicket in the first three overs. Both Joseph Chinunga and Ashraf Lulat started off in tremendous fashion for the Stars, taking the team score to 33 inside the first four overs, but Lulatâs charge (23 off 15) was brought to a halt in the fourth over by Greg Geldenhuys. Chinunga then departed three balls later, then wicket-keeper Isaac Mwaba, too, perished a couple of overs later with the Stars 50/3 in the seventh over. At this stage, it looked like the Blitz were well on their way to restrict the Stars to a score under 75, but valuable cameos from the bat of Godfrey Kandela, Mohammade Baidu and Allan Nsensha, who combinedly scored 34 runs between them, pushed the Stars to 84/8 at the end of their 10 overs. Aiden Hawksworth, with figures of 3/18, was the destroyer-in-chief for the Blitz.Â
Ndola Blitz had a tall task ahead of them, and disaster struck on the very first over as Connor Fletcher perished on just the third ball of the innings to the brilliance of Tausif Panchibaya. Skipper Robert Rogers and Keyle Russel, too, departed, meaning the chasing side were 24/3 in the third over, still needing 61 off the last 43 balls to clinch the title. A decent partnership was the need of the hour for Blitz and they got that in the form of a brief 17-run stand between Greg Geldenhuys and Aiden Hawksworth, both of whom batted aggressively to take Blitz to 41/3 in just 3.5 overs. However, a remarkable collapse then saw the Blitz lose their next 5 wickets for just 11 runs, with Godfrey Kandela accounting for 3 of them, as in no time, they were reduced to an appalling 53/8. With 32 runs needed and just two wickets in hand, the Blitz were written off by everyone, but an astonishing final wicket partnership between James Badcock and James Green saw them get right back into the contest. Green and Badcock batted and batted and took the game to the very last ball and with 7 needed to win off 1 ball, Badcock did the impossible and hit a six to tie the game.Â
However, the effort from the tail-enders went in vain as the Stars eventually came out on top in the Super Over to life the title. Godfrey Kandela was named the Man of the Match for his spell of 3/3, as the Stars, led by Chinunga, became the champions of the Zambia T10 Cricket League. Â