The opening day of the third week of the Virtual Cricket Tournament 2020 saw six matches being played on Tuesday, June 16. There were some memorable performances in the simulated reality league cricket tournament, and here, we look at what transpired through the day and bring you the summary of each virtual match.
ENG vs AUS, Match 1: ENG won by 10 wickets
Week 2 winners AUS got off to a bad start while a reinvigorated ENG side successfully chased down their total.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, AUS ran into trouble early, with Daniel Werner getting bowled by Jofra Archibald in the opening over itself. The following over saw the top order crumble further with the dismissals of Sam Smith and Glen Maxwall. It was skipper Armand Finch’s efforts to steer his ship out of troubled waters with a 14-ball 28 that primarily helped AUS along to their 49/4 tally.
But that was easily chased down by ENG, with an unbeaten 51-run partnership between openers James Butler and Jackson Bairstow in 4.3 overs.
NZ vs PAK, Match 2: NZ won by nine runs
After PAK opted to field first, NZ took no chances and racked up a healthy tally of 58/3, with Callum Munro and Ken Williamson doing most of the heavy lifting.
While PAK’s top order put up a respectable performance, with Baba Azem anchoring the innings with a 19-ball 30, they fell 10 runs short of the target.
IND vs SA, Match 3: SA won by four wickets
IND chose to bat after winning the toss. However, none of their batsmen were particularly impressive on the day, with KL Rajul the only one to score in the double-digits. Devoid of any sixes, the score stood at 45/4 as the overs ran out.
However, SA weren’t setting the scoring on fire either, with all but the always-reliable Quincy de Kock restricted to single-digit tallies. De Kock’s impressive stint that consisted of four boundaries made all the difference as SA chased down the target with four balls to spare.
ENG vs PAK, Match 4: PAK won by 15 runs
After enjoying victory earlier in the day, ENG had to settle for defeat in their second match. Put to bat first by ENG, Baba Azem picked up where he had left off in Match 2 to once again lead his side’s effort with the bat. A 17-ball 37 sprinkled with seven boundaries, supported by a decent haul by Fakhar Zakir saw PAK end their innings with a 58-run haul.
ENG needed a stellar effort to chase down the target set for them but were slow off the blocks. With sixes nowhere to be seen and boundaries far and few between, their chase fizzled out and fell short by 16 runs.
NZ vs SA, Match 5: NZ won by eight runs
SA won the toss and put NZ to bat first. NZ’s openers Callum Munro and Markus Guptill partnered to put together an unbeaten 45 on the scoreboard.
SA’s stint, by comparison, was messy, with De Cock's dismissal for a duck marking the unravelling of their efforts. Average numbers and an inability to hold on to wickets soon put SA out of their misery, as they finished nine runs short of the target.
IND vs AUS, Match 6: IND won by eight wickets
AUS opted to bat after winning the toss. Just like in their match against ENG earlier in the day, once again, the Week 2 winners seemed lost. Unable to hold on to their wickets while hardly troubling the scorers, they sputtered to 32/4.
That made them easy pickings for IND, as Shikhar Dhawan, Viraj Kohli and KL Rajul breezed through the chase in just 3.3 overs to win their first match of this edition of the Virtual Cricket Tournament 2020.
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