02 Dec 2014

Tladi lifted their second trophy of the year by overwhelming Ditlhase with 43 runs in the Botswana Cricket Association (BCA) T20 north and south tournament final.

The November 30 triumph added to the Gaborone based side’s winning of the national 50-overs tournament in September, which they also achieved by defeating Ditlhase in the final.

Ditlhase won the toss and elected to field first, but went on to concede 163-8 even though Tladi endured a disastrous start by losing three wickets within the first four overs.

First batsman Saad Mohyuddin got caught by Sooraj Nair in the first over while Deepak Kellazhy got bowled out by James Moses and Waseem Tajhbay was dismissed by Imran Pathan in the fourth over with Tladi having made 37 runs.

But Tladi established a strong partnership between second batsman Zain Abbasi and Adithiya Rangaswamy which dragged them to 98-4 before the partnership got broken when Rangaswamy was stumped out by Nair in the 12th over.

Abbasi, who was Tladi’s best batsman on the day with 70 runs from 41 balls, including 12 boundaries, was then caught by Manoj Monis with Tladi having made 118-5 after 14 overs.

After the loss of their big wicket Tladi’s run rate reduced and they finished their innings with 163-8, but Ditlhase’s chase fizzled out as were 128-all out after 19 overs.

Abbasi bowled out Akhlaq Raja in the first over as Tladi started their defence confidently, but Sooraj Nair and Noor Ahmed pulled Ditlhase to 48-2 before Nair was caught by Mansoor Hussein. 

The two were Ditlhase’s best batsmen with 29 and 26 runs respectively.Mosa Gaolekwe then bowled out Imran Khan to leave Ditlhase at 79-3, and the loss of the partnership between Khan and Ahmed caused Ditlhase’s chase to lose momentum.

They then started losing wickets in quick succession before their batsmen were all-out in the 19th over.

Abbasi collected three individual awards as he was elected man of the match, best bowler of the tournament (with seven wickets) and player of the tournament. Sooraj was named best batsman after making 130 runs throughout the competition.

Eight teams participated in the month long competition which started in a round robin format before top two finishers from the north and south engaged each other in the semifinals.

Tladi beat Francistown Cricket Club by 43 runs in the semifinals while Ditlhase received a walkover after Phikwe Cricket Club forfeited their semifinal.ENDS