Motlhanka, Abbasi lead Tladi to victory
Dumisani Ncube | Tuesday August 9, 2016 14:16
Ditlhase scored 141 in 20overs for the loss of four wickets. Their opening batsmen, John Mokokwe and Sooraj Kollery, faced a testing spell in the opening stages.
In the eighth over, Mokokwe was bowled out by Tladi spinner Mmoloki Mooketsi having scored 14 runs. Experienced all rounder, Karabo Modise fought a lone battle after a middle order collapse as he top scored with 70 runs off 43 deliveries.
Tladi’s hard-hitting batsmen Abbasi and Saad Mohyuddin started their team’s innings brightly, but the partnership was short-lived after Kelvis Zimba trapped the latter Leg Before Wickets (LBW). National team captain Motlhanka came in to partner Abbassi in a remarkable rebuild.
The duo weakened the Ditlhase fielding system, which had proved to be tough in the early stages of the game. Despite facing aggressive Ditlhase bowlers such as Modise and Zimba, the two batsmen constantly found the boundary which resulted in Tladi surpassing their rival’s score in the 18th over to reach 146 runs after Abbassi hit a six.
“We didn’t have a choice but to win the match. The plan was to take it as far as possible without losing the wickets. The longer we bat the easier it is to get runs,” said Tladi skipper Motlhanka.