26 Jul 2016

Tladi thrashed Shining Stars by nine wickets as the Botswana Cricket Association (BCA) annual T20 Tournament kicked-off in Gaborone on July 24.

Stars elected to bat first after winning the toss, but could only manage 111 runs for the loss of seven wickets at the end of their innings at BCA Oval 1. 

An impressive opening partnership between Saad Mohyuddin and Zain Abbasi hit a century as Tladi made light work of the 112 target in the second innings.

Stars started the match with Valentine Mbazo and Vino Prabakar at the crease and the partnership made 57 runs before Mbazo was caught in the tenth over.  It was already clear that the Stars batters were struggling against the opposition spinners.

After their first partnership was broken, Stars run-rate considerably declined as they lost further wickets in quick succession. Muaz Arooz was run out after on his first ball, and Stars further lost the wickets of Ruan de Wet, Prabakar, Gharindu Perera, and Rashaad Mosweu between the 12th and 15th overs. 

Stars, however managed to cross the 100 runs mark in the 19th over and finished their innings with 111 runs for the loss of seven wickets. Prabakar was Stars’ best batsman with 47 runs off 41 balls.

Chasing a simple target, Tladi’s first partnership of Mohyuddin and Abbasi breezed through the Stars bowlers’ deliveries and reeled off 106 runs in 13 overs. Abbasi made 57 runs off 58 balls while Mohyuddin managed 42 runs before he was caught.

Karabo Motlhanka joined Abbasi at the crease and they completed the task as Tladi hit 115 runs for one wicket after 15 overs.

In the other match played on Sunday, Ditlhase defeated Southern Rocks by 29 runs.

BCA publicity secretary, Sumod Damodar said the tournament was played on regional basis, with four teams each in the southern region and northern regions respectively playing in a round-robin format. 

He said the top two finishers in each region would qualify for the knock-out stages and the final would be held in Gaborone on August 21, 2016. Southern Rocks takes on Tladi in the next fixture on Sunday while Ditlhase will play against Shining Stars. Ends