Kutchi Tigers 289/8 in 50 overs beat Challengers 159/10 in 35.5 overs by 130 runs
Man of Match: Anup Kerai 57 (57) and 9/37 in 8.3 overs
With sunny skies and picture perfect conditions for a cricket game, the university oval at Kyambogo hosted a game of such magnitude that had the best spectacle for many cricket lovers in and around Kampala.
Challengers were put to the sword right away by a Tigers side that clearly enjoy batting. The Tigers won the toss and elected to bat first. In a tournament that has generally been characterized by low scoring figures, the Tigers were able to score an impressive 289/8 in their allotted 50 overs. The pick of their batters were Anup Kerai 57 (57) and Dansukh Jesani 46 (52) who wowed the spectators with their batting proficiency to make light work of the Challengers’ bowlers. Ahmed Naseer’s 3/57 in 9 overs could have proven to be the difference between a 280 score and something in excess of over 300.
With 290 the target score for the Challengers, patient and composed batting should have seen them put up a semblance of a fight. This however was not the case as the Challengers collapsed at 159 gifting the Tigers a 130 run victory in the process. Led by the legendary Arthur Kyobe 40 (57), Challengers got off to a steady start with the experienced batsman choosing finesse over brute force in his batting. He was ably assisted by all the explosive Ahmed Naseer 35 (49) who equally chose finesse over brutish batting. This however was not enough to see the Challengers over the line as they fell 130 runs short of their target.
Perhaps the highlight of the game were the exploits of the Tigers’ all-rounder Anup Kerai. Anup heavily featured with the bat and ball for the Tigers scooping the man of match award in the process. Anup was the pick of batters with his 57 (57) that saw all manners of shots played that left the Challengers bowlers searching for answers. With the ball, Kerai’s was ever impressive as he picked the highest number of wickets by a bowler in a game with 9, one short of single handedly sorting out the entire opposition. Challengers C.C will quickly want to move on from that humbling defeat seeing that there’s still plenty of games to be played in the season and any more slip-ups will prove costly.