Trent Rockets (TRT) kicked off their Hundred campaign with a bang by thrashing Southern Brave (SOB) by nine wickets. Paceman Marchant de Lange ripped apart the SOB top-order, while Dawid Malan and D’Arcy Short made short work of the target as they both struck a half-century.
SOB lost James Vince in the fifth ball after opting to bat first. Alex Davies counter-attacked the TRT bowlers, hitting five boundaries from 11 balls. But Lewis Gregory sent him back to the pavilion for 21, and it triggered a collapse. De Lange picked up three wickets, and Joe Root removed Liam Dawson to leave the visitors at 71/6 after 65 balls.
A 50-run partnership between uncapped Ross Whiteley and Chris Jordan helped them post a respectable score of 126. Sheffield-born Whiteley top-scored with an unbeaten 39. Meanwhile, De Lange finished with the figures of 5/20.
TRT’s run chase got off to a dreadful start when George Garton dismissed Alex Hales for a golden duck. Short and Malan played watchfully but managed to find the gaps for boundaries. With 41 required off 40 balls, the England batsman hit two fours and a six off Jordan. The hosts wrapped up the match in the 82nd ball with Short and Malan at the crease.
SOB 126/8 in 100 balls (R Whiteley 39*, A Davies 21; M de Lange 5/20)
TRT 127/1 in 82 balls (D Malan 62*, D Short 51*; G Garton 1/29)
Player of the Match
Came as a replacement for Wahab Riaz, De Lange set the stage on fire with a fifer in TRT’s opening fixture. It was a phenomenal performance from the 30-year-old, who has represented South Africa in all three formats of the game.
The South African put SOB in the mire early in the match. He dismissed Delray Rawlins in his first ball and clipped the bails of Colin de Grandhomme four deliveries later. Devon Conway was De Lange’s third scalp as the Kiwi batsman nicked the ball into the hands of Tom Moores. At death, he grabbed the wicket of Jordan with a short ball and cleaned up Garton for a duck to register the first fifer in the tournament.
Fantasy XI
M de Lange (147 pts), D Malan (93 pts), D Short (78 pts), R Whiteley (50 pts), L Gregory (37 pts), J Root (33 pts), A Davies (30 pts), L Wood (27 pts), G Garton (25 pts), D Conway (24 pts), C Jordan (23 pts)
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Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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