KICC 134/10 in 34.2 overs lost to Strikers C.C 135/9 in 28.5 overs by 1 wicket
Man of Match: Aloysius Odoi 10(17), 3/10 in 2 overs
“The Giant killers” Strikers C.C have notched up three straight wins in the on-going Jazz Safari National Men’s league. Yesterday’s feat at the Lakeside oval in Entebbe saw them come against a resurgent KICC whose impressive run was halted by the strikers.
When everyone thought KICC had gathered enough momentum in their flight, Strikers C.C were quick to clip their wings before they took to heights unreachable early on in the league. Oddly, the strikers won the toss and elected to field, a decision that immensely paid off as they limited KICC to a score that their hard hitting batsmen could easily chase down.
KICC were bowled out by the hard working bowlers of Strikers, with Aloysius Odoi being the pick of their bowlers with 3/10 in 2 overs. Opener Arthur Ziraba, batted brilliantly for KICC to deny the strikers a chance at a big wicket but he eventually fell with figures of 57 (92). Wassim Butt equally piled on the runs with 37 (43) but despite the pair’s efforts, they fell short of a respectable score. With a combined total of 94 runs between the two batsmen, the strikers’ bowlers were able to make light work of the remaining nine to restrict the entire KICC team to 134/10 in 34.2 overs.
Needing 135 runs to win, the strikers would have easily chased the score down in a T20 style of batting but their victory did not come quicker than they expected. A few flashes of sweltering shots from the young lads of Strikers were equaled with bowling brilliances from the KICC bowlers. Davis Karashani spin edge was blunted as the strikers batsmen were able to get 50 runs off of his 9 overs and losing 3 wickets in the process. Fahad Sadiq’s 4/20 in 7 overs as impressive as they were they did not halt Ivan Thawithewmira 27 (24) and John Tumusiime 24 (30) from stabilizing their team with the bat.
Victory should have come sooner for the strikers but KICC took their chances with hope that they could win it as the wickets kept falling. The strikers’ tail did what all tails do – wag. And wag it did, right to the end to ensure another giant fell to the hardworking and resilient Strikers C.C whose exploits have so far been impressive in their maiden appearance in Division 1.
