Following the opening game of the MCA T20 Super Series, which saw the Southern Hitters victorious, the tournaments second game saw the tournaments other two teams in action. The Northern Strikers recently won the inaugural Malaysia T10 bash and would be coming into the Super Series, and in particular their game with the Central Smashers, with a sense of confidence following their fantastic performances. However, the Central Smashers also displayed that the roster was one that possessed plenty of fantastic talent.
With attention turning to the onfield, action the Central Smashers won the toss and elected to bat which brought the opening pair of Mohd Anwar Arudin and Alam Muhammad Saif to the crease. However, it was the Northern Strikers that took the early momentum thanks to an opening bowling display from Syazrul Ezat and Pavandeep Singh which saw the batting team reduced to 8/2 after the first two overs. The Smashers found scoring difficult, however, Unni Pravan Namit showed resistance during an innings which lasted 41 balls. Namit scored 27 and top-scored for the team; with Ahmad Faiz Mohd Noor (15), Ajeb Khan (17) and Ammar Zuhdi Hazalan (11) also all making starts. However, the Nothern team bowled fantastically well and were able to take regular wickets during the inning. Each of the five bowlers used by the Strikers captain called upon, with Amir Khan Malik returning the fantastic individual figures of 3-19 whilst Pavandeep Singh completed his spell with a fantastic T20 economy of 3.75.
The Central Smashers finished their 20 overs with 116 runs on the board with the Strikers taking 9 wickets. Within the Strikers line-up was one of the Malaysian T10 bash most consistent batsman in the form of Virandeep Singh, but one player requires the help of a team to win a match so it was imperative that the entire Strikers batting line up contributed. Opening batsmen Shankar Sathish (11) and Bhushan Save (78) combined for a 28 run opening partnership which was exactly what the betting team needed to ensure that the chase development momentum. The wicket of Sathish brought Singh to the crease, who seemed to be carrying the form developed during the T10 cpmpeition with him. Save made an entertaining 78 during an innings that contained 7 fours and 7 sixes as he was batting at a strike rate of 288.89/ Save will be looking to ensure his form throughout the competition and despite getting out before the victory was compete showed fantastic skill with the bat. Singh continued to bat well and finished on 20* whilst Anas Malik finished on 1*. The Smashers bowlers unfortunately were put off their lines and lengths due to some fantastic batting, with none of the bowlers going at under 10 runs per over as the Northern Strikers chased down their total after 8.3 overs.
The Northern Strikers are next in action on the 23rd September against the Western Warriors with the Central Smashers playing the Southern Hitters a day later.
The tournament is off to an exciting start, and the action can followed both via live steam provided by the Malaysian Cricket Association and the Association’s official Twitter feed.
Full fixtures are on our EC calendar.
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