The Lions and Sano Braves played their first match together this season at BST Nagasawa. Sano were only able to field a team of 7 players against a full strength Lions and were fielding 2 new players, brothers Hassan and Hashaam Muhammad.
Sano won the toss and elected to bat first, slowly building a score as they settled into the unfamiliar ground. Tomoki Kurihara anchored the early overs staying in for the maximum permitted number of balls and frustrating the attempts of the Lions bowlers to remove him. Hassan came to bat and scored 34 from 14 balls, making short work of any ball that was not bowled full length; luckily for the Lions Kaede managed to get him out LBW before the end of his last over, before having to retire with the maximum permitted score, or he would have returned later in the innings to cause more damage. Although frustrated by the early failure to take wickets, the Lions managed to remove the other batsman without too much damage, including a returning Tomoki. Hugo, Kaede and Shreyas each got 2 wickets and Taiga a catch and 2 run outs. Sano`s final score was 113/10.
The Lions went into bat confident that they could chase down Sano`s score, but were lacking their usual concentration and energy; this proved to be their undoing. An unfortunate choice of shot saw the opening batsman Ryoga removed for a duck by Ryuki Ozeki, but the Taiga and Kaede started to settle in and build a partnership. This all changed in the third over when Hassan bowled Taiga with what was his first of five wickets, including three in a single over. The Lions were soon reduced to 46/7 by the 8th over. A spirited fightback from Hugo, Noah and the two youngest Lions, Nived and George was not enough and the Lions were all out for 70 in the 13th over. The first loss of the season, but a good lesson in never underestimating your opponent and the need to always maintain maximum focus!
Lions Stats: Highest scoring batsman : Hugo (16 off 16 balls), best batting strike rate : Kaede (200), most wickets : Hugo, Kaede, Shreyas (2 each), best bowling economy : Ryoga (3.5)
Player of the Match: Hassan Muhammad (Sano)
Team: Ryoga Minami, Kaede Sommer, Taiga Hague (Captain, Wicket Keeper), Leo Wisessintu, Kirren Hollow, Timothy Moore (Vice Captain), Shreyas Chandwadkar, Noah Michalski, Hugo Wallace, Nived Nambiar, George Loran.
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