The annual 20-20 Cricket Tournament kicked off yesterday with the Memon S.C playing Windsor S.C in the morning session and the Bohra Sports Club played Glamorgan C.C later in the day at Shalika grounds.

 

The defending champions Bohra S.C faltered in the latter stages of the game to give the Glamorgan S.C their first ever win over the Bohra’s in any form of the game. In a thrilling last over encounter, the game swung like a pendulum through out the evening with Glamorgan eventually scraping through.

 

The Bohra’s winning the toss did not hesitate in electing to take first lease of the slow Shalika pitch. With some aggressive fast bowling by the opening bowlers, the Bohra’s were pegged down in the first power play of 6 overs managing to score only 24 runs. They hoped to capitalize from then on as they fortunately had not loss a single wicket but as soon as a couple of boundaries begun to flow from the top scorer, Murtaza Hassanally’s bat, he was hauled out at deep mid wicket off a gentle off spinner.

 

As the wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, the Bohra’s were never able to kick-start their innings and gain any sort of momentum. The scoreline slumped from 53 for 1 in the first 10 overs to 57 for 4 by the end of the 12th. With a little bit of consolidation by Ali Asgar Abdeali and Onesh Labrooy, and a late flurry by Ryan Wijayaratne, the Bohras only managed a meager total of 101 in their allotted 20 overs.

 

1st Innings Summary:

 

Murtaza Hassanally     –           21

Ryan Wijayaratne       –           15

Hussain Mansoor        –           12

 

M. F Nazeem              –           4 overs – 2 for 17

M. Rizwan                  –           4 overs – 2 for 11

 

The B.S.C team got off to a magical start with both opening bowlers Shabbir Hazari and Onesh Labrooy bowling with immense aggression balanced with immaculate line and length, as the Glamorgan C.C collapsed to a humiliating 16 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in their first power play of 6 overs.

 

Just as it seemed the match was in the bag for the Bohra’s, all of a sudden runs started leaking in the middle overs with 32 scored from the 8th to the 10th over. The pendulum had once again swung in the favour of the Glamorgan’s as they required only 31 off the last 7 overs with 4 wickets in hand. A late fight back with the ball from Shabbir Mohamedhussain was not enough, as Glamorgan C.C reached their target wit 4 balls to spare and 2 wickets in hand.

 

2nd Innings Summary:

 

M.F Nazeem               –           40

M. Rizwan                  –           28

M. Irfan                       –           21

 

Onesh Labrooy           –           4 overs – 3 for 15

Shabbir Hazari            –           4 overs – 2 for 20

Shabbir Mohamedhussain –     3 overs – 1 for 14

 

 

By the end of the first days play, both the favourites had conceded losses as the Memons too were defeated by the hosts Windsor S.C. Now the tournament moves to a do-or-die stage for the Bohra’s as they have to win both their remaining matches in order to qualify for the Finals.