Rashid Khan and Dawid Malan guided Trent Rockets (TRT) to playoffs after a seven-wicket win over Manchester Originals (MNR) at Trent Bridge cricket ground. A three-for from the Afghanistan spinner restricted the visitors to 135. Malan, who became the first player to hit three half-centuries in Hundred, played a mature knock and ensured a comfortable win for his side.
Manchester Originals, who handed a debut to Dan Douthwaite and recalled Fred Klaassen, won the toss and decided to bat first. Meanwhile, Trent Rockets fielded the same playing eleven that suffered a defeat at the hands of Birmingham Phoenix on Friday.
Joe Clarke gave Manchester Originals an excellent start as the uncapped batsman managed to score freely in the powerplay. He struck five fours and moved to 27. But, with three balls left in the powerplay, Samit Patel dismissed the 25-year-old. The new man Colin Munro smacked the first ball over the ropes and finished Patel’s second set with a four.
Munro and Phil Salt added 37 runs for the second wicket before Rashid’s double strike saw Salt and Colin Ackermann depart in the space of three balls. The opener gave a catch to Patel at short fine leg, while Ackermann walked back to the pavilion after given out LBW. Manchester Originals lost their fourth wicket when Tom Lammonby got out for three.
Rashid struck again as he clean bowled the dangerous Carlos Brathwaite. With Manchester Originals five down, the onus was on Munro. The left-handed batsman struck fours off Patel and Marchant de Lange. However, debutant Douthwaite ran himself out and Munro, too, dismissed in De Lange’s second set of five. The Kiwi batsman dragged the ball onto his stumps.
An unbeaten 16 from Tom Hartley, which included two fours in Rashid’s last set of five, and valuable contributions from Lockie Ferguson and Klaassen helped them post 135/8 in their 100 balls.
Trent Rockets promoted Malan as an opener. He and Alex Hales added 50 runs for the first wicket. Hales scored back-to-back fours in Klaassen’s 10-ball spell, while Malan punished the poor deliveries. Matt Parkinson broke the partnership by removing Hales in the 37th ball. Manchester Originals still managed to find the gaps in Ackermann and Brathwaite’s sets of five.
Parkinson grabbed another wicket with Steven Mullaney perishing for 17. Malan and new man Patel batted wisely, with the pair picking up singles and doubles and scoring the occasional boundary. Trent Rockets required just 24 from 20 balls.
The hosts lost their third wicket after Malan, who registered a record third half-century, holed out to Brathwaite. But all-rounder Patel smashed a six, and Short scored a boundary in Hartley’s third set of five to wrap up the match with five balls remaining.
MNR 135/8 in 100 balls (C Munro 45, J Clarke 27; R Khan 3/16)
TRT 136/3 in 95 balls (D Malan 52, S Patel 35*; M Parkinson 2/21)
Player of the Match
Rashid, who has been affected by off-field issues, was at his best to steer Trent Rockets to the playoffs. He claimed two wickets in his first three balls and ended Manchester Originals’ hopes of a big total by cleaning up their stand-in captain Brathwaite. The Afghanistan spin king, who delivered 11 dot balls, is now the joint leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 12 wickets from eight matches.
Top Fantasy XI
R Khan (107 pts), S Patel (78 pts), D Malan (71 pts), C Munro (59 pts), M Parkinson (56 pts), S Mullaney (53 pts), J Clarke (44 pts), F Klaassen (36 pts), M Lange (31 pts), S Cook (29 pts), P Salt (28 pts)
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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