By The Arusha News Reporter
Arusha Cricket Challengers (ACC) registered a commanding victory over Annadil Burhani in the ongoing Arusha Cricket League riding on a devastating opening partnership after restricting the latter to a modest total at the St. Constatine grounds.
Annadil Burhani elected to bat after winning the toss on a dry surface but suffered an early collapse. ACC speedster Karimu struck with the third delivery of the match, shattering the middle stump to dismiss Christopher for a duck. In the following over, Parimal removed fellow opener Elias, leaving Annadil Burhani reeling at two wickets down inside two overs.
Huzeifa attempted to rebuild the innings, opening his account with a boundary at mid-wicket off Karimu. However, wickets continued to fall. Risabh replaced Karimu and dismissed Burhan Akeel, who failed to score from five deliveries and was caught at the follow-through.
Annadil crawled to 26 for three, with Huzeifa briefly lifting the tempo by striking a boundary and later a six.
Despite rotating the strike, Annadil Burhani lost momentum. By the time-out, the score stood at 58 for three. Soon after, Gaurav Pandey dismissed Daniel with a sharp return catch, while Jaimin Bapu bowled Mufaddal with an unplayable googly. Huzeifa’s lone resistance ended in the 19th over when Karimu bowled him, as Annadil closed their innings on 107 for six in 20 overs.
ACC’s reply was emphatic. Openers Shyam Soni and Jaimin Bapu began cautiously but exploded in the third over, with Soni smashing 18 runs off Daniel. Jaimin followed with four towering sixes off Murtuza in the next over, propelling ACC to 55 without loss after four overs.
The onslaught continued as Christopher conceded 19 runs in his only over, while Burhaddin leaked 20 in his first. ACC raced to 94 without loss after five overs, effectively sealing the contest. The target was chased down with ease, with 14 runs required from just five deliveries.
Jaimin Bapu remained unbeaten on 54, striking seven sixes and two boundaries, while Shyam Soni scored 46, including seven fours and two sixes. Remarkably, the pair scored 90 runs in boundaries and sixes alone, off just 18 of the 35 legal deliveries faced, as ACC secured back-to-back victories in the tournament.
