Day 3 of the third week of the Virtual Cricket Tournament 2020 saw six matches being played on Thursday, June 18. There were some memorable performances in the simulated reality league cricket tournament, and here, we look at what transpired through the day and bring you the summary of each virtual match.
ENG vs NZ, Match 13: NZ won by three runs
With ENG winning the toss and putting NZ to bat, the latter grabbed the opportunity with both hands, with Markus Guptill anchoring a 61/1 tally with healthy support from fellow top-order batsmen Callum Munro and Ken Williamson.
In response, ENG put together a more-than-respectable innings themselves, with openers James Butler and Jackson Bairstow putting together an unbeaten 58-run knock but still coming up short by four.
IND vs PAK, Match 14: IND won by 10 wickets
PAK won the toss and opted to bat first, but a tight bowling effort from IND bowlers kept the runs in check and the wickets falling, with the score reading 41/5 at the end of the innings.
IND made short work of the target set by their arch-rivals, whittling it down in just three overs, thanks to an impressive 13-ball 39 from Rohan Sharma, including an astounding eight boundaries.
SA vs AUS, Match 15: SA won by seven wickets
AUS chose to bat first and the decision seemed validated at the end of their innings, with the scoreboard reading an impressive tally of 60/1, thanks to a 16-ball 36 from skipper Armand Finch.
However, SA’s Hanif Amla was not intimated by AUS’ heroics, as the opener almost single-handedly racked up the needed numbers with an unbeaten 47 runs off 19 balls, peppered with five boundaries and two sixes. Coupled with a steady supporting performance from fellow opener Quincy de Kock, SA were able to hunt down the AUS total and win by seven wickets.
ENG vs IND, Match 16: IND won by 10 wickets
ENG were uncharacteristically off their game in this e-cricket match, with their batsmen dropping like flies while hardly troubling the scorers, resulting in a paltry 23/5 total.
Not surprisingly, IND made short work of the chase, reaching the winning target in just 1.3 overs, with Rohan Sharma once again doing the heavy lifting.
NZ vs PAK, Match 17: PAK won by four runs
After choosing to bat first, PAK managed to put up 46/1, with decent performances from all three men in the top-order made up of Baba Azem, Fakhar Zakir and Shoaeb Malek.
NZ were slow off the line, with an occasional boundary breaking up an unflattering number of dot balls in the early going. However, they were within sight of a successful chase entering the final over when the crucial wickets of Callum Munro and Ken Williamson fell and there weren’t enough balls left to avert defeat.
SA vs AUS, Match 18: AUS won by 30 runs
Hurting after their loss to SA earlier in the day, AUS took no prisoners in this second chance. Choosing to bat first after winning the toss, AUS were in peak form from the get-go, with openers Daniel Werner and Armand Finch putting up a 49-run stand for the first wicket, setting up the foundation for Sam Smith and Glen Maxwall to further pad their tally to 67/2 by the end of the innings.
SA, by comparison, were a mere shadow of their morning form. Struggling to hold on to their wickets and all batsmen except Darren Miller struggling to get into the double-digits, SA came up 31 runs short of the target by the end of the virtual cricket match.
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