NOTTINGHAMSHIRE V SACA - T20 MATCH REPORTS (27 May 2026)
- Steven Fletcher
- May 27
- 3 min read
MATCH ONE RESULT: NOTTINGHAMSHIRE WON BY 5 WICKETS
MATCH TWO RESULT: NOTTINGHAMSHIRE WON BY 1 RUN
Having run Yorkshire close in two outstanding games of T20 cricket last week, SACA were back in action in the short form of the game today, with two fixtures against Nottinghamshire on the cards at Ladybay Sports Club.
GAME ONE MATCH REPORT
Nottinghamshire began the day by winning the toss and electing to bowl in the first of the two clashes, and three wickets within the opening six overs justified that decision, with Omar Akram (19 off 15), Feroze Khushi (1 off 5) and Amogh Karpe (15 off 10) all falling, as SACA made 52 for 3 in the powerplay.
A useful and quickfire 26 off just 16 balls from Savin Perera and a swashbuckling 45 off 28 from Thilan Walallawita were the main contributions for SACA as they posted 162 all out in their 20 overs, losing their final wicket with a run out off the final ball of the innings.
In reply, Nottinghamshire’s powerplay saw the loss of two wickets, with both openers perishing, although with 62 on the board from the opening six overs they were well in the hunt and ahead of the required rate, thanks largely to a heavy-hitting knock of 42 off 24 from Ben Martindale.
His departure brought Lyndon James to the crease, and he was seeing it like a football from ball one, as he smashed an unbeaten 66 off 36 balls, including five maximums, to take Nottinghamshire to the winning line midway through the 17th over of their chase to secure a five-wicket victory.
James was well supported with some heavy hitting from Rob Lord at the end, who chipped in with 24 from just 14 balls.
One wicket apiece was the reward for Manraj Johal, Shareeq Sheikh and Walallawita, although the standout performance with the ball came from Eesa Nadeem, who finished with figures of 2-0-12-2.
GAME TWO MATCH REPORT
The toss was once again won by Nottinghamshire, who this time elected to bat first, and again, it looked to be the right call.
73 runs came off the powerplay overs, for the loss of two wickets, with SACA’s new ball bowlers Hisham Khan and Johal picking up the wickets.
With a solid enough foundation built, Nottinghamshire continued to build and at the halfway stage of their innings they’d reached 96 for 3, with each of the top three batters getting starts but failing to capitalise.
Number four Freddie McCann did go on however, and his knock of 47 from 34 was the top score for the hosts, with a useful 40 off 26 from Jack Rogers helping Nottinghamshire set a total of 189 for 8 in their 20 overs.
Pick of the bowlers for SACA was Shareeq Sheikh, with 2 for 19 from 3 overs, with Johal and Khan also picking up a brace of wickets and Hassan Mughal and Zain Latif sharing the other two.
In reply, SACA’s reply started well, with Akram and Khushi adding 45 for the opening wicket in good time, before Akram fell, having scored 14 off 9 deliveries.
The six powerplay overs yielded SACA 60 runs for just the loss of just Akram, and runs were starting to flowing nicely from the bat of Khushi.
The wicket of Karpe (2 off 8) was however followed by the departure of Khushi, who fell for a fine knock of 49 off 31 deliveries, as SACA took their score to 78 for 3 at the halfway stage of the chase.
With some acceleration needed, the arrival of Perera was timely, and he’d added 26 with Khan before departing for 17, and it was left to Khan to take on the challenge with the required run rate starting to clime.
He batted beautifully to add 47 off 28 balls, with Walallawita for company, who again proved his case with bat in hand, scoring quickly down the order to keep SACA in the hunt.
It came down to SACA needing 10 runs from the final over of the match, with Walallawita set and seeing it well.
He and Rishan Herath could only muster singles off the first four balls however, before Walallawita despatched the fifth to the fence at point, leaving him on strike and needing two runs off the final ball for the win.
He struck the full toss well, although straight down the throat of a grateful long-on fielder, who held on and secured Nottinghamshire a win by the narrowest of margins – just one run!
Another game that could have gone SACA’s way, although they are the tight margins of T20 cricket.
SACA have a short break until their next fixture, when they take on Warwickshire at the Edgbaston Community Sports Ground in early June.
SACA HIGHLIGHTS FROM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE T20s
Batting:
Hisham Khan 47 (28)
Thilan Walallawita 45 (28)
Thilan Walallawita 32 (18)
Bowling:
Eesa Nadeem 2-0-12-2
Shareeq Sheikh 3-0-19-2
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