By Richard Boxall
Moufflons made significant progress over the weekend in both the 2024 BAOFinancial 40 Over and T20 leagues presented by HurryCurry.
Meanwhile the top individual honours went to Rajasekhar with a rapid match-winning century for Telugu 11.
Moufflons faced a tricky weekend with matches against the leaders of their groups in both competitions, but came through with two wins to keep themselves very much in contention.
On Saturday they made exactly the same score as the previous week 271 all out and again it proved to be enough.
Roman (54), Qasim (41) and Awais (31) made useful contributions, but at 211-9 the game was far from safe. A 10th wicket partnership of 60 between Sharma (35 not out) and Zeeshan (27) took the score to 271, and Zeeshan followed this by taking 3-21 when Everest batted.
Asif also took 3 wickets as Everest were bowled out for 118. Ashish scored 31 and earlier Bhuwan and the returning Bimal took three wickets each, but Everest were well beaten.
Despite the loss, Everest remain top of the group and are assured of a semi-final place, although Moufflons may overtake them for top spot.
In the days other 40 Over league match Kipro Tigers of Limassol made 171 (Patti 3-13) and may well have gained their first victory but for an innings of 105 not out from 63 balls by Rajasekhar, which included 9 sixes and 6 fours.
The Tigers’ Malik made 65 and took 3 wickets but thanks to Raja Telugu reached their target with just 3 wickets standing.
Next day Moufflons took on the group leaders Sri Lanka Lions in the T20 league and gained an impressive 6-wicket win.
Nalin (57) and Srinath (32) helped the Lions to 192-8, with Tanveer and Raza taking three wickets each.
Moufflons opener Lakhwinder hit 14 fours in his 70 from 39 balls. Shoaib made 45 not out and Raza continued his good day with 28.
The Lions remain top of the group but have played all their matches and face an anxious wait to see if other teams will overtake them over the remaining three weeks of the group stage.
Lankan Sports Club on the other hand have won all five of their group matches following a 31-run win over Limassol Moufflons.
Suresh made 41 towards the Lankans 166-9, with Sufian taking 3-23. Then Roshan’s 4-36 helped restrict the Moufflons to 135 all out
In a keenly anticipated match Al Fatah gained an 8-wicket win over Markhor, who scored 150-8, of which Khalid made 47.
In reply an unbeaten 51 by Waqas and a 19-ball 49 from Abubaqar saw Al Fatah home. Both these teams, and Royal, are level in their group on 6 points with one game each to play. The match between Al Fatah and Royal on 12 May will be crucial.
Black Caps beat Punjabi Kings after a fluctuating game. Pawandeep (37) and Sandhu (48) opened up with a partnership of 80, but with the Kings bowlers all keeping things tight, the innings faltered and the final total of 142-6 seemed gettable.
Black Caps’ opening bowlers Brar and Pintu reduced the Kings to 38-5 and although they recovered a little, a total of 89 left them well beaten in the end.
Kipro Tigers of Limassol suffered a second defeat of the weekend when they took on Napa Kings. Amit made 31 of the Tigers 102, but Kamaljit’s 55 from 23 balls soon took the Kings to a 7-wicket victory.
The Easter weekend will be a busy time for our cricketers as the national team has a training camp and the national championships are held, in addition to a few matches in the two ongoing league competitions.
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