Minjex Mokwepa are the champions of the Thuntsha T20 League. Building on their impressive run up to the final, which saw them lose only one match during the T20 league, Mokwepa were at it again this past Friday as they put the resurgent Blue Tree Tshukudu to the sword during the Thuntsha T20 League finals.
Mokwepa beat Tshukudu by 7 wickets to win the league. In a scintillating final match, both teams produced some of the best cricket, but it was Minjex Mokwepa who came tops though, thanks to a 72 run partnership between team Captain Reginald Nehonde and third batsman Asim Siddiqui.
Coming to the crease to bat first, Blue Tree Tshukudu were dealt an early blow to their title aspirations as they lost the wicket of Shahbaz Ali for a duck in the first over. Despite the early setback, Blue Tree Tshukudu regrouped and gave Minjex Mokwepa something to ponder about, thanks to an astute batting by Faisal Rana Rasheed and Karabo Motlhanka.
With Tshukudu in need of a partnership to churn off the necessary runs, the duo did just that as they produced a 63 runs partnership to put Tshukudu’s innings back on track.
Motlhanka was, however, bowled out for 37 runs off 32 balls in the tenth over, thus bringing to an end the partnership. Things got worse in the next over as Rasheed was sent back to the Pavilion for 27 runs. The quick dismissal of the two batsmen left Blue Tree Tshukudu in need of a new partnership to lift them up. However, things only got worse as the Tshukudu team lost more wickets, courtesy of Shweth Bhargava.
The youngster claimed three wickets for 23 runs to put Tshukudu on the back foot. Despite the siege, Tshukudu managed to post an impressive score of 147 runs for the loss of 7 wickets by the end of the 20th and last over, leaving Mokwepa in need of 148 runs, a run rate of 7.4 runs per over to win the match.
Minjex Mokwepa got off to a bad start in their chase as they lost their opening batsman John Mokokwe for 4 runs in the first over, thanks to fast bowler Afzal Patel. With Patel heading to the pavilion, Mokwepa sent Asim Siddiqui to the crease to partner with Aamir Saiyed.
The partnership did not last, however, as Patel bowled Saiyed out in the 5th over, with Mokwepa having put only 35 runs on the board. With Mokwepa now in dire need of a partnership to resuscitate their chase, team captain Reginald Nehonde made his way into the middle to join Siddiqui.
The pairing of the two proved a masterstroke as they put on an impressive showing to take the game to Blue Tree Tshukudu. With Nehonde anchoring, Siddiqui was unleashed and he gave Tshukudu a torrid time with the bat as he hit 65 runs from 36 balls to drag Mokwepa back into the game.
The duo of Nehonde and Siddiqui put on an impressive partnership 72 run partnership before Siddiqui was dismissed in the 14th over with Mokwepa having scored 107 runs for the loss of three wickets.
With Minjex Mokwepa needing 40 runs off the remaining six overs, the team then sent Saad Mohyuddin into the crease to partner Nehonde. The two delivered accordingly as they wrapped up the needed run chase in four (4.2) overs to see off Blue Tree Tshukudu. For his stellar effort with the bat, Minjex Mokwepa’s Siddiqui was named Man of the Match for his fantastic knock of 65 off 36 balls which swung the match in Minjex Mokwepa’s favour.
