Both Rashid Khan & Mohammad Nabi were impressive in The Hundred face-off when their respective franchises, Rockets & Spirits locked horns at the Lords on Thursday. As expected both of them performed well with the ball on a pitch which seemed to spin & stick throughout.
Spirits decides to bowl, Morgan brings Nabi in powerplay
Morgan gave Nabi three sets of five in the power play which was a bit unusual. After a couple of tight overs, Nabi finally got the better of Hales. Alex wanted to give him the charge but Nabi managed to pull the length back & foxed him with his off break. Keeper did the rest by knocking off the bails.
Nabi was impressive with his tight spell of off spin
Eon kept persisting with spinners and never allowed the Rockets to up the ante. Soon Nabi was brought back to bowl his fourth. It seemed the batsmen were clearly uncomfortable in facing an all spin attack. The pitch was turning and gripping. Malan was trying to settle down by knocking the ball around. In the pursuit to drive the off spinner down to long off, David could only push the ball straight into the diving hands of Nabi. Rockets tottering at 49/2 in the 8th. Nabi finished an excellent spell of 2/20 in his four.
Late outburst by Short elivates Rockets to a descent total
Short was finding it hard to score even at run-a-ball pace. But he did not lose his composure and continued to crawl through the innings at a sluggish rate. It was Darcy’s last over outburst that propelled the Rockets to reach 123, a total which many had thought wasn’t at par by then.
Nabi fails to take advantage of the power play
Nabi was promoted to number three with an idea to take advantage of the power play while the spinners were on. He ran a couple of doubles, tonked a six and looked like as if he is setting himself for a big one. But as it happens with him frequently, took too many risks too often and brought about his downfall. Perhaps he should have taken more time to settle rather than going after every ball. The kind of control & maturity he shows while he bowls must be replicated in his batting where he seems to not take full advantage of his talent & potential.
Spinners & Rashid tighten the screws over Spirits
However after the power play was done, Rashid was introduced into the attack. By then the Spirits were stranding confused at 30/3. Rashid kept on adding the pressure further in his first over. In the second, fooled Bopara with a peach of delivery that was pitched around the driving length & turned away sharply. All Bopara could do was to nick it behind into the keeper’s gloves.
The pressure kept on growing till the end & London kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Rashid became the most economical of all the bowlers with 2/13. Got the better of Aamir in his last ball when the southpaw was flummoxed by a googly that got him stumped while giving him the charge.
Rockets hold on to their nerves amidst a late Cullen attack
Although a late surge by Cullen gave Spirits some hope but it was too little too late. It was Trent’s third victory in a row and is currently leading the tables of The Hundred. Both Nabi & Rashid have so far shown excellent skills with their spin. Hopefully a good season in the UK will prove to be beneficial when they take on their national duties in September against Pakistan.