This weekend saw the start of the Malta Cricket Associations annual domestic league.
In the first game of the
season, Marsa CC move joint-top of Group B after a clinical display against the
spirited but inexperienced American University of Malta CC (AUM CC).
Marsa captain, David
Marks, chose to bowl first after winning the toss and he picked up the first
wicket of the match, bowling AUM CC’s Nishit Bhatt. After adding another wicket
to his tally, Marsa’s captain turned to his bowlers, Siddharth Anand and
Noshair Akhter, who then picked up 2 wickets each whilst Haroon Mughal added
one to his name.
AUM CC’s Abhishek
Prajapati top scored with 27 runs, as his team finished on 90 runs for 9
wickets from 20 overs.
It was then Marsa CC’s
turn to bat, chasing down the set target in just 12 overs.
AUM CC’s Prajapati got
his team’s first-ever wicket in domestic Maltese cricket, removing Sumair Khan
for a disappointingly low score.
Muhammed Usman top
scored with 34 runs for Marsa whilst Zeeshan Khan added 33 runs without the
loss of his wicket.
In the highlighted match
of the weekend, Super Kings CC was beaten in their season opener by Knight
Kings CC.
Batting first, Knight’s
opening pair, Basil George and Eldhose Mathew, put on an impressive display of
skilful power-hitting before Mathew succumbed to last year’s winner of the best
bowler award, Ashok Bishnoi.
Malta Men’s National Team
and Super Kings’ new skipper, Bikram Arora, then removed George for a score of
34. Samuel Sanish blasted a brilliant score of 58 runs (not out) for the
Knights while Amar Sharma helped himself to 4 wickets as Knight Kings CC posted
153 runs for the loss of 6 wickets from their 20 overs.
Super Kings CC’s run
chase got off to a slow start with Sharma, Gopal Chaturvedi, Bishnoi and Arora
being dismissed for low scores as the Knight’s bowling attack ripped through
the Champion’s top order.
It took a quickfire partnership from Varun Prasath and Aaftab Khan for Super Kings to claw their way back into the game. Prasath’s dismissal brought Super King’s debutant, Hasheem Shahzad, to the crease, where he and Khan continued to chase down their target score of 153.
Despite being injured and unable to run, Khan continued to smash boundaries for his team but his efforts weren’t enough, despite posting a personal score of 53 runs (not out), his side could only muster 151 runs for the loss of 6 wickets from their 20 overs, eventually losing to Knight Kings CC by 2 runs.
Bose Paul picked up 2
wickets for the Knights while Mathew, skipper Sujesh K Appu, Justin Shaju and
Vishnu Shaju picked up a wicket each.
Despite the brilliant victory, it is Power Hitters XI CC who top Group A on net run rate ahead of the Knights after their impressive win over debutants Swieqi United CC on Sunday.
The Power Hitters posted the highest score of the weekend with 169/5 in 20 overs. Captain Ravinder Singh recorded the highest personal score of the weekend with 73 runs off just 38 deliveries which included 9 4’s and 3 6’s, as he completely dominated the Swieqi United CC’s bowling attack, smashing them to all corners of the ground.
Gurjeet Singh and Jaspal
Singh Jnr. pitched in with contributions of 30 and 32 runs respectively, whilst
Aneesh Tomy picked up 2 wickets for Swieqi.
In reply, Swieqi United
CC lost Malta Crickets’ Nowell Khosla early as Manoj Kumar struck for the Power
Hitters. The same bowler also then went on to dismiss Swieqi’s captain, Moon
Malik, thanks to Jaswinder Singh holding on to a fine catch in the deep. Imran
Ameer and Michael Nazir put on a partnership of 62 runs, but it was Power
Hitters XI CC who continued to dominate, taking key wickets at crucial
times.
Niraj Khanna tried in
vain, but only managed to remain on not out on 29 runs as he watched his side
bowled all out for 146 runs in just 18 overs.
Surinder Singh picked up
the first five-wicket haul of the season with figures of 5 wickets for 28 runs
in his 4 overs, including a hattrick, as he tops both the Bowling and overall
Player MVP charts after the first weekend’s fixtures.
Joining Marsa CC at the top of Group B are Msida Warriors, after their comfortable victory over Mater Dei CC.
Opting to bat first, Mater Dei captain, Sam Aquilina, top-scored for his side with 38 runs as none of his teammates managed to get any significant partnerships going.
The Warriors bowled out their opposition for 102 runs, with Salu Kanakalil Thomas bowling brilliantly to claim 4 wickets. Divyes Kumar and Basil Joy taking 3 and 2 wickets respectively.
In reply, Msida Warriors CC started with a blip as Tito Thomas was run out by Kushilesh Kuppaka for no score. Samuel George Boby and Akhil Piostine then amassed 82 runs together, with the former carrying his bat for an excellent half-century.
Kumar finished the game off in style with a couple of 6’s as the Warriors won in the 13th over for the loss of only 3 wickets. Kuppaka and Faisal Naeem picked up the other wickets for Mater Dei CC.
Next Saturday, Southern
Crusaders CC take on debutants Bugibba Blasters CC while Mater Dei CC face
seeded Overseas CC.
On Sunday, AUM CC clash
against Msida Warriors while Super Kings CC will be looking to get their season
up and running against the impressive Power Hitters XI CC.
Standings
Group A: Power Hitters XI 2, Knight Kings 2, Southern Crusaders 0, Bugibba Blasters 0, Super Kings 0, Swieqi United 0
Group B: Msida Warriors 2, Marsa 2, Overseas 0, Paola Boys 0, AUM 0, Mater Dei 0
Follow all the action on
the Malta Cricket Association’s Facebook page.
