Mighty Strikers v Victorious Royals

At the business end of the league fixtures for the Strikers now, they lined up against an experienced Royals side looking to continue their good form in the tournament. Cheam CC was the venue for the Thursday evening clash between the two big sides, the Royals winning the toss and electing to bowl first.

Considering the struggles faced by the Knights batting first at Cheam on Monday, the decision to bowl first by the Royals proved to be correct one! The new ball pair of Mohsaf and Aqib has been pairing well so far in the tournament, and this time they combined to totally snap the top order of the Strikers in complete disarray. With the first 5 wickets falling for 16 runs (Ajaz, Muzamil, Muhayuddin, Mansoor and Shakir all returning to the pavilion), the Strikers were completely dismantled with Mohsaf doing extreme damage in his opening spell with the new ball. Mohsaf’s 4-8 and Aqib’s 2-8 with the new ball is everything a captain could ask for having chosen to bowl first, and that too against a formidable batting line up like the one possessed by the Strikers.

Some resistance was offered by Rana Faheem (23 off 30), who tried his best to anchor the innings with the remaining batters in his team, but the remaining wickets were smartly snapped up by the slower bowlers Sadeed and Fazl, who ensured that the Strikers did not recover at any point to make some kind of total. A party total of 57 was really going to take a miracle of epic proportions to defend at Cheam CC.

The Strikers did try to create some nerves in the chase of this small total, as Nauman and Muhayuddin bowled very well without giving much away. Nauman’s early breakthrough with the wicket of Nazeef, and Shakir’s double strike gave the Royals a small setback, as the Strikers were not willing to roll over so easily with the score at 27-3. However, a composed batting approach by Usama Muneer (30* off 34 balls) alongside the experienced head of Abid (19* off 16) ensured this total was chased down with ease eventually in the 12th over.

The Strikers are now in a real spot of bother having lost two games on the trot, and with serious issues with the top order collapsing on both occasions. They must improve quickly or risk slipping down the table and missing out on play off positions with other teams finding form. The Royals have kept their 100% record in tact so far, much down to their excellent opening bowling pair, and the batting has come to the party for them in periods where they have needed players to step up.