Jersey and Glamorgan batter Asa Tribe struck an unbeaten half-century amidst a collapse to lead England Lions to victory in the opening match of their T20 series against Pakistan Shaheens today (February 20).
Batting at No.4, Tribe was in early during the Lions' chase, after Will Smeed and Jordan Cox were dismissed for single-digit scores by Akif Javed. The Shaheens had set the Lions 153 to win after battling to 152-7 in their innings. James Coles starred with the ball, returning figures of 2-20, while opener Shamyl Hussain top-scored with a half-century.
With the Lions at 33-2, Tribe came in at the end of the fourth over of the chase to join Ben McKinney in the middle. After stealing a single off his first ball, he played out four consecutive dots to Ahmed Daniyal before striking the first boundary of his innings. Despite wickets falling around him, Tribe rotated the strike and picked up boundaries to provide an anchoring presence in the innings.
He reached his half-century off the 42nd ball of his innings. At that point, England needed 27 runs to win from 20 balls, with the score at 126-6. Tribe and Scott Currie put together a solid 32-run partnership at the end of the innings to see the Lions over the line with five balls to spare.
Who is Asa Tribe?
His innings today was the continuation of a winter which has seen Tribe's stocks rise quickly. He was selected for the Lions' tour to Australia at the start of the Ashes winter, and scored a century against Australia A in Brisbane. He then had a stint with Paarl Royals in the SA20, where he scored a clutch 30* in the Eliminator to secure their place in the final.
Tribe was born in Jersey and made his debut in the men's T20 World Cup Europe Regional Qualifier in 2021. He has played 26 T20Is and five ODIs for Jersey, most recently in the men's T20 World Cup Europe Regional Final last December.
In October 2023, Tribe signed a two-year rookie contract with Glamorgan, and made his first-class debut the following summer. In September last year, he scored a double-century against Northamptonshire, and signed a new contract to stay at Glamorgan until the end of 2026.
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