Saturday morning saw the Southerners 20/20 team play Punjab CC for the first game of the annual Southerners’ 20/20 Competition. After a mixed Bangkok Cricket League season, the Southerners were keen to start afresh and get on the front foot, so to speak.
With Punjab winning the toss and electing to bat, the Southerners sent in Zeb to set the pace with the ball, then brought in some valuable spin bowling from Mehul. Varying the pace and height of the ball, the Southerners managed to take wickets regularly and restrict Punjab to 101 from 19.1 overs. Sneaky new South African import Mikey pinched 2/3 (3 overs), while Faheem also bowled excellently, with 3/8 (3 overs).
Coming out to bat, the Southerners’ openers Nadeem and Gaurav set about their task with confidence, playing the bad balls and finding gaps. They set the run chase well and the Southerners ended up capturing their target in 17.2 overs, with only two wickets down. Among the key scorers was Saffa Mikey, after some lovely, and not-so-lovely, boundaries (51 n.o. – retired) in a superbly timed partnership with Madan.
A great all-round effort from the team, some tight bowling and a well-paced chase. Congratulations to Mikey for his deserved Man of the Match award.