Live cricket is back in South Africa with the debut of the newest innovation of the game- 3TC and before anyone could decipher the ever changing dynamics of the match, it was over. This format caters to the short attention span of viewers and amplifies the excitement level by reducing the number of overs to be played to 12, in two halves of 6 overs against two different teams. There is an increased competitiveness as there are three teams involved consisting of 8 players each. In today’s tripartite exhibition match the teams competing were : Eagles captained by A B de Villers, Kites under T Bavuma and Kingfishers lead by R Hendricks.
The 1st Half
Kingfishers batted first, followed by Eagles and Kites in that order. In this format you bat first, then bowl and then wait in the dugout while other two teams are on the field. In their 6 overs Kingfishers got to 56/2 on the back of 30(11) from Malan that included 2 big hits and 20(16) by captain Hendricks. For Kites, Nortje bowled a beauty of last over costing only 5 and accounting for dangerous looking Malan.
Next in to bat were ABD’s Eagles. They got to 66/1 in 6 overs from Kingfishers. Markram did the bulk of scoring- 47*(23) with cautious ABD joining him towards the end who also got reprieve when T Ntini, son of S Af legend Makhaya Ntini, could not station himself under a skier off his own bowling. The young Ntini has the clear impression of his father in his action.
Kites were the last to bat in 1st half scoring 58/1 against Eagles bowling. Few powerful hits from JJ Smuts, 36*(19) ensured they were second in order of run scored. Pheklukwayo took the only wicket that fell catching Richelton lbw.
The 2nd Half
Eagles were the first to bat as they top scored in the first half. The duo of Markram and ABD came out all guns blazing scoring flurry of boundaries with both power and precision. Both scored half-centuries- Markram (70 off 33) and ABD (61 off 23)- and ensured Eagles would get to an unassailable score of 160/4 in the allotted 12 overs.
Kingfisher’s Stuurman and Ntini bowled quite well to contain Kites to final score of 138/3. Smuts scored 48 off 25 before falling to Ntini, cut straight to deep point, however the top-scorer was Pretorius who got to his half century in 17 balls, quickest of the match.
Kingfisher were set a gold target of 161 and a silver target of 139. Faf’s three consecutive sixes off Ngidi kept them in game for a while but once he fell to Fortuin in the next over, the team couldn’t compete much and the disciplined bowling of Eagles restrained them to 113/5.
This format has no winners or losers rather they all get a place on the podium and medals- just of different metals. Eagles bagged the Gold, Kites got silver while Kingfishers had to be contained with Bronze. We had a nice fun day of cricket and all for good cause as all match proceedings will go to Charities. Like the England-WI test match, this match too started with everyone taking a knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement.