Moufflons qualify for final of 40-over cup

By Richard Boxall
Cyprus Moufflons became the first team to be sure of a place in the final of the CCA 2022 BAOFinancial 40-over Cup, when they defeated Sri Lankans by 81 runs at Happy Valley on Saturday. They are now guaranteed to finish first or second in the round robin stage.

Zeeshan Sarwar (69) and Jawad Ali Shah (64) were the main contributors to Moufflons’ score of 271-7, while Roman Mazumder took 3-34 from 8 overs for Sri Lankans.

In order to retain any hope of overhauling Moufflons, Sri Lankans needed to win, or at least to pick up most of the bonus points available by scoring 200 and avoiding being bowled out. However they just fell short on both counts, reaching 190 runs and losing their last wicket with 9 balls left. Shabi Ul Hasan top-scored with 34 while Gursewak Singh took 3-38 for Moufflons.

Meanwhile at Ypsonas, Limassol Sri Lanka Lions moved into second place with a huge win over Cyprus Super Kings. BLCS Kumara (158) and Roshan Lakmal (101) put on 177 for the fifth wicket as the Lions made 364, with Thirupathi Sandireddy taking 4-81.

The competition’s leading wicket-taker Suresh Janaka then took another 5 wickets, for 25 runs, as the inexperienced Super Kings batsmen were rolled over for 78. Sri Lanka Lions play their last game next Saturday against Royal, where a win will take them to the top and confirm their place in the final, but a defeat will leave the door open for Royal, Zalmi or Sri Lankans to overtake them.

On Sunday in the CCA Autumn 2022 BAOFinancial T20 Cup there were wins for Nicosia Fighters and Bazigar.

Fighters had to overcome a second-wicket partnership of 112 between Vimal Khanduri (64) and Chaitas Shah (56) for Amdocs who set up a decent target of 196-8. But they knocked off the runs for the loss of 4 wickets inside 18 overs, thanks to Mohammed Chowdhury’s 38-ball 87.

A lower-scoring, but closer, game between Royal and Bazigar was decided with just one ball to spare as Bazigar reached their target of 158 with three wickets in hand, thanks to Shayan Khan’s 58 from 28 balls. For Royal Sarpreet Singh hit 40 from 20 balls to set up an exciting match, in which Bazigar’s Salman Khan and Royal’s Jeevan Lasmal each took three wickets.

Next Sunday’s fixtures include an intriguing match between the so far unbeaten Riyaan and Sri Lankans, as the quest for semi final places goes on