Another gripping t10 encounter between two evenly-matched sides closed day two at the Dream11 European Cricket Series Alicante.
Another gripping t10 encounter between two evenly-matched sides closed day two at the Dream11 European Cricket Series Alicante.
Following a couple of wins and a defeat on the opening day, Pinatar Pirates actually headed the table going into day two, and were the fresher side, having enjoyed a break from the Tuesday action until now.
Of course, Levante had to recover from clutching defeat from the jaws of victory against Madrid United in their debut game. Batting first after losing the toss, Levante posted a score of 105, a boundary less than in their opener which ended in that famous / historic golden ball finish. Shakeel Hafiz went big early with 28 off 11 balls before an unfortunate run out. After the tense finish to the previous game, skipper Azhar Abbas clearly had revenge on his mind with 23 off 18, while Ajmal Ilyas top scored with 30 off 16 balls. Balwant Singh took 2-10 in his only over for the Pirates.
105 was always a competitive total but Levante knew they could ill afford the sloppy errors that ultimately cost them the game against Madrid. Improved fielding and tighter bowling put Levante firmly in control with the Pirates only amassing a paltry 28 at halfway with Azhar Abbas repairing some of the earlier damage with 2-16 off his allocation.
After the sudden retirement of “tired” opener Abbas Saqlemm, a fit new batsman Lovejit Singh kept his side in the game with a series of lusty blows. As the target dwindled to 48 off 18 balls and then 34 off 12, Levante were no doubt recalling their earlier misery against Madrid. However, Tariq Afridi held his nerve removing dangerman Lovejit Singh (33 off 13 balls) to leave Pinatar needing 20 needed off the final over to steal victory. Levante’s Shakeel Hafiz took responsibility with the ball and Pinatar left themselves too much to do, falling eight runs short in another entertaining Dream11 European Cricket Series Alicante encounter.
