Msida Warriors CC are the team to beat two weeks into the 2020 Malta Cricket Association Summer League, as Super Kings CC defeated the impressive Power Hitters XI CC in the headline match of the weekend.
In
Saturdays’ first game, Southern Crusaders CC opened their season with a win
over Malta cricket debutants Bugibba Blasters CC. Losing the toss and being put
in to bat, Crusaders’ captain, Michael Goonetilleke, worked on a tidy opening
partnership with Ryan Bastianz until Blasters’ Vinay Singh Negi struck to eventually
dismiss both of them.
Bugibba
Blasters could not restrict the amount extra runs conceded, coupled with late
run contributions from Eardley Chandiram and Ishantha Kariyawasam, along with
Indika Thilan Perera’s tidy 24 runs (not out), Crusaders amassed a score of 133
runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their 20 overs.
Singh
Negi picked up 2 wickets and 2 run-outs, while Sohan Singh was the pick of the
bowlers with 3 wickets for 17 runs in 4 overs.
Crusaders
made a blistering start to their defence as they had their opposition down 3
wickets for just 10 runs. Naikoti Rohith and Devendra Singh worked on a
partnership of 42 runs before Ezhaq Masih claimed the wicket of the former.
Suresh Singh Dobal (14 runs), Singh Negi (22 runs, not out) and Deepak Singh
(12 runs) looked set to deliver Blasters their debut win.
However,
it was Crusaders’ ability to pick up wickets late on that proved crucial as
Bugibba Blasters CC only managed to finish on 119 runs for the loss of 7
wickets in their 20 overs, handing Southern Crusaders CC a 14 run
victory.
Chandiram,
Kariyawasam and Zeeshan Yousaf claimed 2 wickets each for their team.
The
result means Crusaders top Group A after two weekends.
Overseas
CC triumphed in a remarkably close game against Mater Dei CC on Saturday
afternoon by 2 runs, 1 run more than their margin of victory against the same
opposition last year.
Overseas
captain, Jurg Hirschi, opted to bat first after winning the toss and his
opening batsmen Sean Byrne and Jaz Cable set about building a total for their
team.
Byrne
fell to Faisal Naeem early on, while an assured knock of 34 runs from Cable
ended at the hands of Atif Sharazy.
The
exciting Heinrich Gericke came to the crease and blasted his way to a league
debut half-century (56 runs) off just 29 balls.
A
healthy contribution of 23 runs by Deon Vosloo helped Overseas CC to 159 runs
for the loss of 5 wickets in their 20 overs.
Mater
Dei CC did not start their run chase auspiciously as Lee Tuck had Azeen Sethy
out the first ball.
Inspirational
Mater Dei skipped Sam Aquilina built up partnerships with Kushilesh Kuppakka
and Mohammod Sanawar before the latter two was dismissed by Luke Bradley and
Jaz Cable respectively (Cable’s wicket required a great catch by Gerald
Sant).
Aquilina
retired hurt after having a tooth knocked out and his jaw fractured in a freak
accident but returned to the crease after Muthukumeran Murugesan was dismissed
by Cable for his 2nd wicket.
As
Aquilina continued to pile on the runs for his team, Tuck continued to take
wickets, removing Cornelius Khan, Naeem and Sharoon Lazar, with Sant taking his
2nd catch for the third of those wickets.
Aquilina
brought up his 50 with a clinical strike for 6 before succumbing to his
counterpart captain Hirschi the very next ball – Cable holding on to a
brilliant catch in the deep.
It
was all too much work for Mater Dei’s tailenders as Bradley’s dismissal of
Sharoon Lazar through a spectacular catch from Gericke in the final over spelt
defeat for Mater Dei CC.
Finishing
on 157 for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs.
Lee
Tuck was the pick of the bowlers for Overseas CC as his 4 for 25 runs in 4
overs helping his team to victory.
Msida
Warriors stayed top of Group B after a comfortable victory against the spirited
American University of Malta CC (AUM) side. Batting first, the Warriors lost
opener Samuel George Boby to Chetan Jani’s bowling with the score at 32.
Akhil
Piostine did not last much longer, succumbing to the all-rounder Abhishek
Prajapati. Divyes Kumar blasted a towering 6 before being dismissed by Zoheb
Malek, allowing opener Tito Thomas to score his first half-century for the club
before he too fell victim to Malek again.
Captain
Rahul Nair piled on the runs as he recorded a 50+ score. However, Jitesh Patel
had the last laugh of the innings, bowling Minesh Mathai.
Nevertheless,
Msida Warriors posted 166 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in their 20 overs –
the highest score of the season.
In
reply, AUM lost Tarak Shah and Saneesh Kumar early on; Shijil Joy and Basil Joy
with the wickets respectively.
Darshit
Patanakar, Mohitkumar Panchal and Malek didn’t last much longer either with
Shijil Joy having an involvement in all of their dismissals.
The
bright spark for AUM in their batting performance was Prajapati who scored his
side’s first half-century in Malta domestic cricket, finishing on 69 runs and
topping the MVP rankings after Week 2. The American University of Malta CC ended
on 120 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in their 20 overs, handing Msida Warriors
CC the victory by 46 runs.
Samuel
Kanakalil Thomas picked up his 5th wicket of the campaign, putting him top of
the Bowling Leaderboards heading into Week 3.
Super
Kings CC blasted the highest score of the season in the headline match of the
weekend against Power Hitters XI.
This
was largely due to the impressive batting performances by top-order batsmen
Gopal Chaturvedi and Varun Prasath who recorded scores of 36 runs and 37 runs
respectively.
It
was the innings from Navdeep Singh Gill on his Super Kings CC debut that was
the standout performance for the champions as he notched 63 runs off just 39
balls.
Late
contributions from skipper Bikram Arora and Amar Sharma saw them finish on 182
runs for the loss of 5 wickets in their 20 overs. Gurjeet Singh claimed 3
wickets for Power Hitters XI who were overwhelmed in the field by their
opposition.
Power Hitters XI CC’s response was slow as Surinder Singh and Ramandeep Singh were both dismissed by Ihtisham Ishaq at the start of the innings while Prasath claimed the scalp of Jaswinder Singh.
It was up to captain Ravinder Singh again to lead the counter-attack and his efforts resulted in his 2nd consecutive Summer League half-century, putting him firmly top of the Batting Leaderboards after 2 matches.
However, his 61 runs coupled with meaningful innings from Gurjeet Singh of 20 runs and Jaspal Singh Jnr. of 32 runs were not enough for the Power Hitters as they handed victory to Super Kings by 24 runs for the loss of 6 wickets, despite posting an impressive total of 158 runs.
Next
weekend, Mater Dei CC, who are on the cusp of elimination, take on Marsa CC in
the Saturday morning game while Knight Kings CC return to face Southern
Crusaders CC later on in the day.
Paola
Boys CC make their debut in Maltese domestic cricket against the powerful
Overseas CC on Sunday morning while Swieqi United CC take on Bugibba Blasters
CC in the afternoon.
Standings
Group A: Southern Crusaders 2, Super Kings 2, Knight Kings 2, Power Hitters XI 2, Bugibba Blasters 0, Swieqi United 0
Group B: Msida Warriors 4, Marsa 2, Overseas 2, Paola Boys 0, Mater Dei 0, AUM 0
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