BY THE ARUSHA NEWS CORRESPONDENT
Meru Cricket Challengers (MCC) defeated Annadil Burhani ‘B’ by 18 runs and Arusha Cricket Challengers (ACC) submerged A to Z cricketers by four wickets to register their first victory in six matches, in the on-going Syed Ali Khamenei Memorial Tournament at the St. Constatine grounds, last weekend.
Annadil Burhani won the toss and elected to field, putting MCC in to bat first.
MCC lost several early wickets but Mbwana Shabani steadied the innings with 20 runs at the top of the order. Bawan Benald then led the recovery with an impressive 51 while Gurnawaz Singh added a valuable 24 to help MCC finish on 155 for nine.
Huzeifa Seifudin led Burhani’s bowling attack with three wickets for 33 runs whereas Hussein Upa claimed three for 37. Taher Aziz also bowled economically, taking two wickets for 15 runs.
Chasing 156 for victory, Burhani were kept in contention by Taher Aziz, who top-scored with 60. However, wickets continued to fall around him.
Abbas Khanbhai contributed an unbeaten 28 in the middle order but Burhani could only reach 137 for nine, handing MCC an 18-run victory.
Jainam Jenu was MCC’s leading wicket-taker with figures of three for 37. Gurnawaz Singh took two for 19 while Saroj Puhan claimed two for 30.
In the second match, A to Z won the toss and elected to bat first against ACC.
Sejul gave A to Z a strong start by scoring 37 as the team reached 50 without losing a wicket. However, a dramatic batting collapse followed with A to Z losing all 10 wickets for just 51 additional runs to be bowled out for 101.
Gaurav Pandey led ACC’s bowling attack with excellent figures of three wickets for 12 runs. Jaimin Patel took two for five and Juma Safari claimed two for 15.
ACC made a poor start to their chase, losing two early wickets to Vijay Dhiman, who finished with figures of two for 15.
Opener Veer Makwana steadied the innings with 34 while Juma Safari contributed 26 in the middle order. Guru Prakash then claimed two wickets during the middle overs to put ACC under pressure.
However, Shyam Soni held his nerve and finished unbeaten on 19, scoring the winning runs in the 16th over. ACC reached the target with four wickets remaining to record their first victory in six matches.
