Twitter Reactions: Marchant de Lange, D’Arcy Short, Dawid Malan hand Southern Brave crushing defeat

Trent Rockets started their campaign in the Men’s Hundred 2021 on a resounding note. The team, led by Lewis Gregory, raced away to a nine-wicket victory against Southern Brave with as many as 18 balls to spare at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Needless to say, that the Brave were outplayed in all three departments.

Ross Whiteley guides Southern Brave  

After electing to bat first, the Brave could never get themselves in a position of command. Devon Conway and Alex Davies notched 18 and 21 respectively, but none could convert. Skipper James Vince couldn’t open his account after Luke Wood accounted for his wicket early in the innings.

Delray Rawlins and Colin de Grandhomme couldn’t go beyond single digits as well. However, Ross Whiteley’s unbeaten 29-ball 39 took the Brave to 128/8. His knock was laced with three fours and two sixes. For the Rockets, Marchant de Lange was outstanding as he picked up a five-wicket haul.

Short and Malan dominate

The Rockets didn’t have a great start to their run-chase as George Garton sent back Alex Hales for a golden duck. Hales’ wicket was a crucial one as he was one of the leading run-scorers in the 2021 T20 Blast. After his dismissal in the second ball, it was one-way traffic in favour of the Rockets.

D’Arcy Short and Dawid Malan stitched together an unbeaten 124-run stand to see their team over the line. Malan was the more attacking of the two as he scored 62 off 43 with seven fours and two sixes. Short didn’t flatter to deceive either, having scored a 41-ball 51 with five fours and a six.

Our performance wasn’t ideal: James Vince

Lewis Gregory, the Rockets’ skipper, was happy with his team’s performance with the ball in hand. Brave’s skipper Vince, on the other hand, admitted that most things went wrong for them right from the outset.

“It was a pretty nice way to start the competition. I thought we were good with the ball and kept them down to a below-par total and then to see Malan spend some time out in the middle with D’Arcy, they took us over the line. The lads are fantastic,” Gregory was quoted as saying.

“Right from the start (things went wrong). Our performance wasn’t ideal but the occasion itself was enjoyable. We will improve quickly and come back in the next game,” Vince said.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to Trent Rockets’ victory:

A 💯 on 💯 performance 🤩

A 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 performance from Dawid Malan as he smashes an attractive 62* (43) for Trent Rockets to take them home 💥🔥#TheHundred #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings pic.twitter.com/WAhBkoNzx1

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) July 24, 2021

Dawid Malan had a string of low-scores in the lead up to #TheHundred. He’s changing it today in a run-chase. Jemimah Rodrigues had ani indifferent form over the last few months. She turns it around with a top knock in a run-chase. And none of the viewers are complaining!

— S. Sudarshanan (@Sudarshanan7) July 24, 2021

An IPL team needs to sign Marchant De Lange soon. 🏏

— Nicket (@Nicket_S) July 24, 2021

With Marchant de Lange recording the first five for in #theHundred history, do we think there’ll be a hundred in the Hundred this season?

— Darren Murphy 🏏 (@MrDMurphy) July 24, 2021

We have our first 5-fer… take a bow Marchant de Lange 🔥🏏

What a win for the Rockets!

— The Hundred Report (@HundredReport) July 24, 2021

.@HurricanesBBL D’arcy Short wins the day in Trent. https://t.co/zYCqIjiZeO

— Andrew Shepherd (@SmirksTas) July 24, 2021

That D’Arcy Short upper cut was a distant cousin of Suryakumar Yadav’s. #TheHundred #SLvIND

— S. Sudarshanan (@Sudarshanan7) July 24, 2021

The Hundred's first, I am going to duck this one but wait I can ramp this over slips shot from D'Arcy Short.

— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) July 24, 2021