De Lange claims high five as Rockets soar
MARCHANT DE LANGE claimed the first five-wicket haul of The Hundred as Trent Rockets eased to a comfortable victory over Southern Brave in front of a crowd of just under 13,000. Dawid Malan and D’Arcy Short made unbeaten halfcenturies in a top performance by the Rockets. Malan’s 62 off 43 balls and Short’s 51 off 41 saw the Rockets knock off a modest target of 127 with nine wickets and 18 deliveries to spare after powerful South African bowler De Lange’s raw pace was shown to be a potent weapon in shortformat cricket, finishing with five for 20 from 20. Ross Whiteley top-scored with 39 for the Brave but, with no other batter passing 21, their total was poor on a good Trent Bridge surface.
Having chosen to bat first, Brave struggled to 56 for four at halfway, having lost James Vince for a duck to a superb Luke Wood yorker.
Alex Davies hit Lewis Gregory straight to extra cover and, after off-spinner
Joe Root pinned them down by conceding only seven runs from 10 balls, Brave’s top order fell apart as De Lange dismissed three batters in eight deliveries.
In an eventful start to the Rockets’ chase, Garton opened with a beamer to Short, but the left-armer then got local hero Alex Hales for a first-ball duck.
At halfway, Rockets were 68 without further loss, needing 59 from 50 balls, which meant Malan and Short didn’t have to chase risky boundaries.
The end came when Short – twice caught off free hits early on – put the 81st ball over the long-on boundary off Dawson then stroked the next into the covers.