9:45 PM IST, 5:15 PM Local Time: Tom Moores with his splendid half century get Rockets over the line against Southern Brave. Tom Banton misses out on a well deserved half century by one run. Tymal Mills turns the brings some hope for Brave at the backend but gets snatched away by a winner from Marcus Stoinis.
Earlier in the afternoon, David Willey won the toss and invited Southern Brave to bat first. Rocket's skipper, David Willey got the wicket of James Vince, captain of Southern Brave, early in the innings putting them on the back foot. The outfield was slow, the pitch was assisting the spinners and medium pacers bowling with pace off. Jason Roy and Leus du Plooy added 53 runs off 42 deliveries. Leus du Plooy, on one end held the innings together. He added 55 runs off 34 balls, with 4 fours and 4 sixes in the inning.
There was a break in play, as Adam Hose fielding at Long on slipped over and hurt his knee. The injury looked nasty and he was escorted out of the stadium with an ambulance. There was delay with the players heading out and the broadcasters decided not to broadcast a replay of the injury. We hope for his speedy recovery.
After the play resumed, Michael Bracewell was battling in the middle, trying to get the Southern Brave to a defendable total. He added, 28 runs off 16 balls, with 3 fours in the inning. James Coles finished the inning with an unbeaten 25 off 18 balls, scoring 3 boundaries as well. Southern Brave eventually finished at 140/4 at the end of the 100 balls. Marcus Stoinis was the most successful bowler with 2 wickets in his 15 balls, giving away 18 runs.
Coming out to chase 141, Rockets were off to a good start. They were running away with the total in the powerplay with Tom Banton holding one end together. At the end of the powerplay, Rockets were 23 runs ahead of where Brave were.
Brave made a comeback after powerplay, by picking wickets and putting Rockets on the back foot. Run scoring was getting difficult and momentum had swung towards Brave. Tom Moores, gave support to the collapsing inning, by building a partnership alongside Tom Banton. Tom Moores scored 55 off 30 balls, with 4 fours and 5 sixes. He entered the middle when things were dicey and the momentum was towards Southern Brave, but with his aggression, he brought the game back on the porch of Trent Rockets.
Tom Banton held his ground firm throughout the innings and added 49 off 38 balls, with 4 fours and 2 sixes. He missed out on a well deserved half century right at the backend of the innings. The pitch has gotten slow and apart from an outlier innings from Tom Moores, no one else was able to bat on the surface. After the dismissal of Tom Moores, Brave got some hope of pulling the game back in the mix but Marcus Stoinis off the first ball of the final set, won Rockets their third game of the season with a maximum. Jordan Thompson was the pick of the bowlers. He took 2 wickets for just 17 runs in his 15 deliveries.