In the first Group B match of the SCC T20 tournament, Melbourne Cricket Club (Melbourne) defeated Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC) by eight wickets at the Padang. KCC scored 96 runs, losing 9 wickets. Melbourne achieved the target easily right in the 14th over by scoring 100 runs losing only 2 wickets.
Melbourne won the toss and elected to bowl. However, the KCC team fell like a pile of cards before the Melbourne bowling led by Jackson Koop and Zac Mevisson. Suhaib Ahmad emerged as the top scorer of the team with 24 runs, scoring four boundaries. Jackson Koop took 2 wickets and proved to be the most economical bowler, giving away only 12 runs. Zac Mevisson and Kieran Elliot took a wicket each.
In reply, the effective batting of Blake Thomson and Meyrik Buchaman led Melbourne to victory. Thomson scored 31 runs with four boundaries. Buchaman had the highest strike rate of 160.7 as he scored 45 runs facing 28 balls. The winning team reached the target in the 14th over.
Melbourne have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with, while lack of collective pre-tournament practice and rusty players took its toll for the Hong Kong club, which is in the off season.
