12 Aug 2014

Rashaad Mosweu hit a half-century on August 10 as Shining Stars beat Tladi by two runs in an entertaining clash as the Botswana Cricket Association (BCA) 50-Overs Regional Tournament got underway at the Cricket Oval.

The competition, which is divided into the southern and northern regions, will be played for a period of four weeks. Finals for both regions are set for Gaborone and Francistown on September 7.

Stars, which comprises National Under-19 players batted first, with their first partnership of Mosweu (51 runs) and Tumelo Molema (30 runs) contributing significantly to their team’s 214 runs from 41 overs.

The partnership was broken when Molema was caught in the 15th over, with Stars having registered 104 runs. Mosweu, who hit nine boundaries, was caught by Karabo Motlhanka shortly afterwards.

Thabo Motlhabane (21 runs) and Thatayaone Tshose (28 runs) were other significant run-scorers for the Stars. Tladi’s bowlers Imran Khan and Nabil Master both claimed three wickets.

Tladi started their innings slowly with Sahd Mohyuddin getting caught by Mosweu in the second over and Rahat Mohd bowled out by Tshose in the seventh over.

But the chase gained momentum when Feroze Ghaswala’s partnership with Karabo Motlhanka dragged their team from 18 for two to 95 for three before Motlhanka was caught by Molema in the 26th over.

The team from Gaborone continued to up its game and managed to make 204 runs for nine wickets with one over left.

Needing 11 runs from six balls to win the match, they managed eight runs from the three balls, but their hopes of snatching victory were dashed at death when Ghaswala got run out by Motlhabane in the fourth ball of the last over.

Ghaswala (91 runs) and Motlhanka (47 runs) were Tladi’s best batsmen on the day. Ditlhasa from Gaborone defeated Southern Rocks from Lobatse by eight wickets in the other southern region match played in Lobatse on Sunday.

Ditlhasa faces Shining Stars in Gaborone this Sunday while Tladi visits Southern Rocks in Lobatse. The top two teams would contest the final on 7 September. ENDS