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A total of four matches took place at the Top End T20 Series 2024 on Wednesday (August 14) in Darwin and Palmerstone. Perth Scorchers Academy, Adelaide Strikers Academy, Melbourne Renegades Academy, and Northern Territory Strike secured clinical wins.
With the results, Northern Territory Strike climbed to the top position in the table with three wins in five games at a Net run rate (NRR) of 0.582. The Melbourne Renegades Academy are second with same wins but have an inferior NRR of -0.357.
With wins in both games, Australian Capital Territory are second on the table, while Pakistan Shaheens, Adelaide Strikers Academy, Melbourne Stars Academy, and Tasmania hold the subsequent positions with two wins each. Meanwhile, Bangladesh A and Perth Scorchers Academy are at eighth and ninth, respectively, with one win each.
Northern Territory Strike put in an impressive all-round performance vs Melbourne Stars
In the first game of the day, Perth Scorchers batted first and got off to a decent start, with skipper Sam Fanning producing 39 runs against Melbourne Renegades. Then, Teague Wylie slammed 67 off 45 to take the Scorchers to 167. Stars captain Hilton Cartwright (54) performed well, but they fell short of 14 runs, as Matthew Kelly scalped four wickets.
The second game saw Bangladesh A posting a respectable total of 147 against Adelaide Strikers, with Shamim Hossain (42) as the major contributor. Harry Manenti and Tim Oakley picked up three wickets for the Strikers. In response, Jake Winter (82* off 54) delivered a sensational knock to seal the chase under 18 overs.
In the third encounter, Tasmania squared off against the Melbourne Renegades, with the former managing to post only 139/6 in their 20 overs. Tim Ward (71) was the top batter, while Matt Hennig (3/19) was the wrecker-in-chief for the Renegades. Thereafter, Blake Macdonald (54*) top-scored for the side and stitched important partnerships to chase down the score under 17 overs.
The final game saw Northern Territory Strike batting first against the Melbourne Stars. After a mediocre top-order performance, Connor Carroll (59* off 32) paved the way for the side to post 162. Then, Matt Hammond (2/23) was impressive to lead Northern Territory’s defense by 18 runs.
