Men's T20 Max Heats Up

West’s wicket-keeper Isaiah Snell’s belligerent top order knock was the highlight of Monday night’s blockbuster KFC T20 Max game.

Against a spin-heavy Northern Suburb’s attack defending a meagre total of 119, Snell effectively killed the game in the powerplay with an impressive array of sweeps and slog sweeps.

The keeper was strong square of the wicket with four towering slog sweeps off one Cameron Hemp over reducing the asking rate to under five.

He was supported by Tom Campbell (40* off 30) and Will Bosisto (21 off 19) as Wests cantered to a seven-wicket victory.

Earlier, West’s Captain Steve McGiffin won the toss and elected to bowl on a wet and cold night at Albion’s Allan Border Field.

Left arm pace bowler Oliver Patterson struck twice in the first over to give Wests a perfect start.

The Under 19 NSW Metro product found the edge of the dangerous Josh Brown with Steve Paulsen taking a sharp catch at first slip before the young quick took an easy return catch to remove Cameron Hemp with a ball that jagged away from the left-hander.

North’s Captain Scott Palombo’s leading edge found cover to gift Sam Geyer his first wicket on a pitch that was clearly two-paced, leaving Norths reeling at 3-8 inside 4 overs.

First and second change bowlers Steve McGiffin and Sean Seaward backed up the opener’s bright start with a concoction of slower balls, restricting Norths to a solitary boundary inside the power play.

The introduction of spin brought immediate relief for opening batsman Aryan Jain, who charged Will Bosisto in his first over and deposited him over the sight screen.

However, disaster struck when non-striker Jain turned down a single to backward point, leaving Raveesh Srivastava short of his ground for the third duck inside eight overs.

Boundaries were few and far between as Norths lost wickets at regular intervals.

Jain battled valiantly for a well-compiled 54 (52) including an imperious six over long-on to bring up his half-century in the first over of the surge.

However, it was hard to accelerate throughout the innings with Wests’ pace battery using the sticky conditions to their advantage. McGiffin (2-16) and Geyer (1-26) were hard to put away in the middle overs.

Coming in at No. 9, Ryan Walker’s first innings of the tournament (33 off 21) provided a brief counterattack to give Norths a glimmer of hope.

Patterson returned late in proceedings to curtail both the dangerous tail-ender and Jain’s innings, restricting North’s to 9/119.

This proved to be well under par, with Wests reaching the target in 13 overs. 

The action continues this week, with matches again broadcast on 7plus Sport as the competition heats up leading into the semi-finals and Final on Saturday.

Four teams - Valley, Wests, Redlands and Gold Coast - are locked on 10 points, with South Brisbane two points back on 8 points 

7plus Sport coverage to come:

Tue 2 September, 6pm: Gold Coast v South Brisbane, Allan Border Field, Men
Wed 3 September, 6pm: Valley v Redlands, Allan Border Field, Men
Fri 5 September, 6pm: Men’s Sem-Final, Allan Border Field, Men
Sat, 6 September, 4:30pm: Men's Grand Final, Allan Border Field, Men

Men's matches and standings can be found at:

https://play.cricket.com.au/grade/8fc9ba9c-feeb-49e0-a22c-065dd99f67b7?tab=matches