BY THE ARUSHA NEWS CORRESPONDENT
Arusha Cricket Club (ACC) have set up a mouth-watering final showdown tomorrow with Meru Cricketer Challengers (MCC) in the Syed Ali Khamenei Memorial Tournament, after edging Telugu by 25 runs in a closely fought semi-final at the St Constantine grounds, last weekend.
Telugu won the toss and elected to bowl first against ACC in the highly anticipated semi-final.
ACC suffered early setbacks as Karimu claimed crucial wickets, but Veer Makwana once again rose to the occasion with an impressive 64. The innings marked his fifth consecutive half-century of the tournament and proved vital in helping ACC post a competitive total.
Youngster Manaan Parmar also made an important contribution lower down the order, scoring a crucial 14 runs as ACC were eventually bowled out for 127.
Yogendra Azad was among Telugu’s standout bowlers, finishing with figures of 3/25, while Karthik also impressed with 3/28.
In reply, Telugu endured a disastrous start as Issa Safari and Parimal Patel struck early, reducing them to 27/5 and putting ACC firmly in control of the match.
Sandeep attempted to revive the innings with a valuable 31 runs, while Karthik contributed 21 in the middle order. However, Telugu could only reach 102/8, handing ACC a 25-run victory and a place in the final.
ACC will now take on Meru Cricketers in the tournament decider. MCC had earlier secured their place in the final following victory over Telugu in their previous encounter. Tomorrow’s final is set to start at 10 am and the crowd is welcome to witness the final, according to the organisers.
