Akrotiri still in contention after narrow victory

By Richard Boxall

In a week of generally one-sided matches, the 40-over game between Amdocs and Akrotiri produced the tightest of finishes, as the RAF team squeezed home by one wicket with two balls to spare.

Amdocs posted 206-9 in their 40 overs. Hitesh made 56, Vimal 43 and Chaitas 37, while Akrotiri’s Miller and Gregory took three wickets each.

In reply Warren and Raikes took Akrotiri to a strong position at 151-2, but then Raikes fell for 70 to Gaurav who delivered a spell of 5-27 to reduce them to 198-9 at the end of the 39th over.

This left Warren, who had carried his bat from the start of the innings, to face the last over with 9 runs needed. After missing out on the first ball he hit the next three for 6, 2, 1 to clinch the win, finishing on 77 not out.

Also in the 40 over league Markhor won a high-scoring encounter with Sri Lanka Lions. Markhor’s captain Malik scored 100, including 20 boundaries, and Zeeshan was left on 96 not out when the overs ran out, with the total at 314-7.

In reply the Lions were all out in the 29th over for 238. Skipper Nalin, batting later in the order than usual, was unbeaten on 88 at the close, and Jeewan made 37, while Malik and Zeeshan followed their batting with two wickets apiece.

The week’s other 40 over match resulted in a comfortable victory for Moufflons over Kipro Tigers of Limassol, who were dismissed for 157. Nouman  (46) and Masud (37) were the main scorers, while Sharma took 4-20 and Waqas 3-10. For Moufflons Roman continued his good form with 59 and Qasim made 48 as a 6-wicket win was secured in just 19 overs.

Moufflons have now qualified for the semi final stage along with Everest in group 2. In group 1 Markhor will finish top but the second place hinges on the outcome of Saturday’s game between Sri Lanka Lions and Akrotiri, where the winners will progress to the knockout stage.

BAOFinancial T20 Cup presented by HurryCurry

In the T20 league perhaps the biggest surprise was the demolition of Moufflons by MSN Punjab Lions. In an important game that was expected to be closely contested, Moufflons were bundled out for 68, with Tiwari having the outstanding figures of 4-8 from three overs of off-spin.

The Lions knocked off the runs in just over 6 overs for the loss of two wickets, led by Sonu’s 29.

Black Caps beat Limassol Qalandars by 70 runs. Lovedeep celebrated his call-up to the national team squad with a 50 and Sandhu made 36 as the Caps reached 165-9. Brar and Akashdeep took three wickets each to help dismiss the Qalandars for 95.

At Dhekelia 1Rifles secured their first win of the season at the expense of Philips Warriors. Defreitas (36) and Williams (35) got the Rifles off to a steady start before the fireworks came from Ribeiro who transformed the game with 42 from 20 balls. A target of 153-4 was too much for the students, who had bowled tidily but were unable to make any impression with the bat.

Amandeep hung around to reach 36 but the innings subsided to 105-9. Ribeiro completed a fine all-round match  by troubling the batsmen with his swing bowling which earned him 2-12 from 4 overs.

Roman (65) and Rasel (47 in 21 balls) put on 117 for Nicosia Tigers’ first wicket, and Arjun (36) and Aminul (28) added an unbroken 56 to reach a total of 214-5 against Amdocs, who could only manage 129-8 in reply, with Prince making 35, while Tauhidul took 3-24 for the Tigers.

A crucial game between Al Fatah and Royal resulted in a 48-run win for Al Fatah. The only significant innings in the match came from Waqas who hit 67 from 38 balls out of Al Fatah’s 138. Royal’s Umar Shah had outstanding figures of 5-11 to give his team a seemingly gettable target.

However the five bowlers used by Al Fatah all took wickets while bowling economically, with the best figures belonging to Waqas with 3-18 and Awais who took 2-9 from 4 overs, as Royal slumped to 90 all out.

Limassol Moufflons gained their first win of the season, replying with 102-4 to Akrotiri’s 98-6. Gagandeep top-scored with 45 not out.

With only one weekend of matches left in the group stage, there are still places in the semi finals to be fought for. In group A Nicosia Tigers will qualify along with either Telugu 11 or Amdocs, who have to win their final match against 1Rifles.to overtake them.

In group B MSN Punjab Lions and Moufflons can both overtake Sri Lanka Lions at the top if they win their last matches against, respectively, Kipro Tigers and Sri Lankan CC. So the Lions will be looking to their compatriots from Nicosia to do them a favour by beating Moufflons.

In group C Lankan Sports Club – the only team in the competition with a 100% record – and Black Caps have both qualified for the knockout stage as no other team can catch them.

In group D Al Fatah will play in the semi-finals and will most likely be joined by Markhor. But Limassol Zalmi still have an outside chance if they can win their last two games by a big enough margin to overcome their currently inferior run-rate.

Cyprus national teams

The Cyprus men’s and women’s teams will be playing a series of international matches against Estonia in June. The selectors have picked the following squads for the men’s matches.

(For both T10 and T20 matches) – Scott Burdekin (Capt), Roshan Siriwardanage (Vice capt), Akila Kaligula, Arjun Shahi, Hardeep Singh, Lovedeep Singh Bhullar, Nalin Pathirana, Preetaj Deol, Sadun Chamal, Scott Austin, Taranjit Singh, Vimal Khanduri.

(For T20s only) – Buddika Ranasinghe, Jimi Chialoufas, Kamal Raiz, Mangala Gunasekara, Neeraj Tiwari, Rajwinder Singh Brar, Roman Mazumder.

(For T10s only) – Chandana Prartana, Karan Singh, Nazrul Islam, Ravindu Asanka, Srinath Rajith, Tharanga Pathirana.