The Taiwan Dragons produced a surprise pair of dominant performances at the Taipei T10 Cricket League yesterday, winning their two games, although the TCA Indians topped Group 1.
The Dragons upset the Hsinchu Titans with some strong hitting after being sent in to bat in the first match on the third day of competition.
Rishi Josula clattered 43 runs with four fours and three sixes in just 22 deliveries to set a batting standard that was not bettered at the Yingeng Cricket Ground yesterday.
Photo courtesy of Priya Purswaney
He and Adam Hopkins (23) put on 58 for the second wicket after opener Athula Senadeera contributed 16 from 10. The partnership took the Dragons to 112, the highest team total of the super-short-format tournament so far.
It was a turnaround from the previous week, when they struggled to 60 from their 10 overs in their loss against the Indians, who topped Group 1 with two wins from three. The Dragons were second, also on two wins, but TCA edged them with the head-to-head result.
Rishi was out with just over three overs remaining, caught at the third-man boundary by Vijay Ganisetti from the bowling of Manikandan (1-24).
However, Hopkins kept blazing away and Bivan Singh lashed 10 off the first two balls of the final over before he was out bowled, which was followed by a run out and a catch, but still left a challenging total.
The Titans’ reply got off to a horrendous start with Hopkins (1-9) and Rishi (2-17) taking wickets in their first overs.
Despite clouting 16 runs from those two overs, the required run rate ballooned after Hopkins’ second over conceded just three.
Halfway through the innings the score was just 32-3, but Joyal Francis (34) launched some big shots to push the score along. Francis and Pramod Kumar Mandal (20) helped push the Titans total to 92, the second-highest team total of the tournament, but a 20-run loss.
The energy continued for the Dragons in their second match against the Taiwan Daredevils. Batting second, they chased down a disappointing 64-5 in just 6.5 overs.
Singh finished the contest in style with three sixes in four balls from the bowling of Hein Nothnagel.
In the day’s final match, the FCC Formosans bowled out PCCT United and chased down their 57 in 7.5 overs, with Anthony Liu blasting 30, including three fours and two sixes.
The Group 2 standings are to be decided today, with the ICCT Smashers to play the Formosans, and then the Chiayi Swingers playing back-to-back against the Smashers and United.
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