US Masters T10: California Knights’ Kallis and Kumar deflate Texas Chargers in crushing win

Lauderhill, Florida, 19 August, 2023

The California Knights registered their first win of the US Masters T10 League with a massive win as they beat Texas Chargers by 48 runs at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida, on Saturday. The Knights put up a total of 158/1 before restricting the Chargers to 110/8 in their 10 overs.

The Knights went on a rampage despite the loss of an early wicket when they won the toss and chose to bat first. The Knights’ opening batter Aaron Finch departed in the very first over after being caught out by Fidel Edwards for a duck.

However, Jacques Kallis pulled the momentum towards the Knights through four boundaries off Sohail Tanvir’s bowling in the second over. Milind Kumar also joined the party in the fourth over as he struck three sixes and a boundary off Pragyan Ojha’s bowling.

Kallis played an incredible knock of 64* runs from 31 balls while Kumar smashed 76* runs off 28 balls to help the Knights post a target of 150 after their 10 overs. The duo struck 15 fours and 9 sixes during the course of their innings.

In reply, the Chargers’ Mohammad Hafeez fell to Peter Siddle for two runs in as many balls in the first over. However, Mukhtar Ahmed struck consecutive sixes and took the Chargers’ score to 19/1 for a fiery start. Ahmed smashed two more sixes off Krishmar Santokie’s bowling as the Chargers were comfortably placed at 54/1 at the end of the third over. A close game was on the cards.

However, Ashley Nurse stopped the flow of runs by dismissing Ben Dunk and Mukhtar in the fourth over. Thereafter, the Knights kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and eventually walked off the field as winners.

On the opening day on Friday, Richard Levi (66 from 25 balls) powered New York Warriors to a six-run victory over Morrisville Unity. It was the only result on Day 1 with the first two matches washed out by rain. All the matches are being held at the same venue.

Brief Scores: California Knights 158/1 (Milind Kumar 76*, Jacques Kallis 64*, Fidel Edwards 1/24) beat Texas Chargers 110/8 (Mukhtar Ahmed 33, Upul Tharanga 27, Ashley Nurse 3/12) by 48 runs.

New York Warriors 124/3 (Richard Levi 66, Kamran Akmal 24 n.o, Obus Pienaar 1/18) beat Morrisville Unity 118/5 (Obus Pienaar 35, Shehan Jayasuriya 28*, Umaid Asif 3/22) by 6 runs.