Game One:
CHALLENGERS CC v JINJA SS
CHALLENGERS CC 191/8 in 20 overs (Hamu Kayondo 57 off 35, Aneef Mohammed 45 off 36) beat JINJA SS 143/7 in 20 Overs (Abdulhameid Suleiman 60 off 47) by 48 runs
They say T20 is a batsman’s game and the morning fixture between Challengers and Jinja SS did little to quell the argument in favor of the bowlers.
Challengers won the toss and elected to bat hoping to make strides early in the tournament. Falling short of 200 might not be what they wanted, but a mammoth 191 for the loss of eight was perhaps the start they looked for.
Hamu Kayondo (57) and Aneef Mohammed (45) heavily starred with the bat contributing a 70 plus run partnership.
In response, Jinja SS CC fell 48 runs short with Abdulhameid Suleiman being their sole inspiration. The experienced Suleiman managed 60 runs before he fell, and with his fall, came the crumble of the Jinja SS team.
Despite the fall of wickets, Jinja SS managed to play out all their 20 overs even though the battle was already lost.
Game Two:
CHALLENGERS CC v JACC
CHALLENGERS CC 198/6 in 20 overs (Aneef Mohammed 78 off 51, Hamu Kayondo 63 off 40) beat JACC 146/10 in 19 Overs (Ahmad Khan 54 off 47) by 52 runs
It was all copy and paste in game two at the Jinja oval when Challengers took on JACC in their second and final T20 of the day.
Challengers had earlier set a massive 191/8 against Jinja SS and were at it again against JACC, scoring seven runs more in the afternoon to set 198/6.
Hamu Kayondo (63) and Aneef Mohammed (78) who starred in the morning were at it again, stealing the limelight with strokes of the blade that saw the Challengers put on a repeat performance. Challengers went on to get 198 which seemed like a daunting task for their opponents.
JACC replied with a modest 146 runs, falling 52 runs short with a spirited fight. Ahmad Khan who top scored for JACC with 54 runs had the displeasure of watching his teammates fall on the other end of the wicket. His lone defiance was unfortunately cut short which also led to the fall of JACC.
With a total of 357 runs scored by four batsmen, there is no disputing how much of a batsman’s game the T20 format is. Aneef finished the day with 126 runs in 87 balls while Hamu Kayondo bagged 120 runs in 75 balls. It will be interesting to see how they match up to other opponents as the tournament progresses.
