BY THE ARUSHA NEWS CORRESPONDENT
Telugu defeated A to Z by 23 runs and TCA downed ACC by five wickets in the on-going Ali Chomoko Memorial Cup at St. Constantines School ground last weekend. Both wins were built on incisive new-ball spells and assured catching. A to Z won the toss and sent Telugu in, a call that looked golden when Chandra Prakash ran riot with 4 for 7, supported by Guru Prakash (3/20) and Dushant Singh (2/31). Even so, Vinay Kumar’s steady 34 and a useful 19 from Harshil Patel pushed Telugu to 135 in 18.5 overs—par on a tacky surface that rewarded the new ball. The chase never settled. Karthik hit hard lengths to shred A to Z’s top order and finished with 4 for 17 while Harshil Patel returned to wrap up 4 for 35. Mani Kandan’s 41 and Vijay Dhiman’s 17 kept A to Z interested but regular strikes meant the reply ended at 112 in 12.2 overs, sealing Telugu’s win with room to spare.
The second game flipped from the first over. TCA’s Juma Safari struck with his first two balls—Jaimin Bapu and Sachin Agrawal both nicking through to the alert keeper Linda—and ACC never truly recovered. Only Shyam Soni showed defiance with a composed, unbeaten 49 as partners fell in single digits. Tanush Ganga Prasad’s orthodox googlies cut through the middle for three, Amiry added two and Safari returned to complete three as ACC were bundled for 87 with 21 balls unused.
