The Eliminator
Ndola Blitz vs Lukasa Heats
Lukasa Heats Squad:
Squad: Mukesh Medium (C), Ashish Desai (VC), Mehul Patel (WK), Viswanadha Mudunuri, Mohammed Sohel Kadva, Aditya Kelkar, Deepak Siroya, Javid Patel, Nainesh Patel, Hashmi Sayyed, Nitin Jesani, Sebaj Patel, Babu Hayden, Manoj Patel and Irfan Galiya.
Ndola Blitz Squad:
Squad: Robert Rogers (C), James Squire (VC), Connor Fletcher (WK), Chris Mai, Calion Harris, James Badcock, Aiden Hawksworth, Keyle Russel, James Green, Devan Cowley, Oliver Snart, Thomas Vermaark, Richard Parker, Greg Geldenhuys and Craig Stow.
Following their defeat in the eliminator against the Stars, the Ndola Blitz then game up against stiff competition against the Lukasa Heats in what promised to be an exciting and thrilling competition. Both teams had so much to gain from the game but also so much to lose so it promised to bring out the best from both sets of players.
The Lukasa Heats won the toss and chose to bat first, potentially hoping to use the scoreboard to create extra pressure during the Blitz’s chase. However, the Blitz gained the upper hand in the early stages with Blitz captain Robert Rogers picking up a wicket in the first over. In a game where the momentum shifted throughout, the Heats put together a fantastic batting partnership with Nitin Jesani (42 off 22) and Mehul Patel (29 off 20) combining for a partnership worth 61 off 33. Craig Stow (2-0-17-2) accounted for both of the batsmen but another fantastic performance from Javid Patel (25* off 13) ensured that the innings maintained momentum throughout. The Heats finished their innings on 106-4 meaning the Blitz was set a tough chase of 105 to book their place in the final.
The Blitz got off to the perfect start with 24 runs coming off the first over, Connor Fletcher accounting for 19 of those runs. The Blitz opening partnership of Fletcher (49 off 23) and Rogers (40 off 23) combined to get the Blitz chase off and running with 66 coming off 32 balls. This did not mean that the Heats were out of the game, with their bowlers putting in a monumental effort to try and prevent the Blitz victory. Javid Patel continued to perform impressively throughout the game with outstanding figures of 2-0-10-1 and Mukesh bowled very tightly to finish with figures of 2-0-10-0. One final push from the Blitz, however, managed to get them across the line with one ball to spare. An important 7 off 4 balls from Aiden Hawksworth settled the team down after a nervy looking period and helped the team secure the victory.
This meant that the final of the competition was a repeat of the Qualifier, with the Kabwe Stars coming up against the Ndola Blitz.
Next page: The Final
