Arusha Cricket Challengers (ACC) returned to winning ways with a six-wicket victory over Meru Cricket Club (MCC) in the ongoing ARCC T10 League at St. Constantine’s ground last weekend.
Skipper Gurpreet Singh, standing in for Jenu Pandya, won the toss and sent MCC in to bat. MCC openers Hiral Patel and Bawan started positively, with Patel striking boundaries off Parimal to lift their powerplay score to 21 without loss. Patel then went on the offensive against Parimal, hammering 18 runs in one over to push MCC’s run rate to 10 per over, threatening a total well above 100.
ACC’s bowlers, however, struck back strongly. Jaimin “Bapu” claimed both openers in the sixth over, sparking a collapse from 49/0 to 54/2. Skipper Gurpreet and seamer Gourav Pandey kept the pressure on with disciplined short-pitched bowling, Pandey eventually uprooting Minesh Patel’s stumps. MCC could only muster 79/3 from their 10 overs, with skipper Ganga’s late cameo the lone highlight.
Chasing 80, ACC stumbled early in the absence of Shyam Soni, Veer and Jenu Pandya. They slipped to 7/2 after Gurpreet was run out by a sharp throw from Bhushan. Karimu Athman and Amit then steadied the innings, rotating the strike before cutting loose with 18 runs off Ritvik in the seventh over. Their 52-run stand kept ACC ahead, though Amit fell for a well-made 26.
Needing 21 off the last 12 balls, Karimu took charge, blasting 13 runs off Rahul Sridhar before sealing the chase in the final over with three quick boundaries. He remained unbeaten to guide ACC to 80/4 with three balls to spare.
In other league results, Telegu won narrowly by eight runs over Annadil (Telegu scored 97 for six whereas Annadil managed 89 for four). TCA lost to MCC by seven runs. (MCC scored 90 for seven and TCA managed 83 for three).
