Triumphs for Episkopi boys and girls, and Black Caps men

By Richard Boxall

The annual junior schools cricket tournament, organised by Cyprus Cricket Association and hosted by Heritage School, turned out to be a double success for Episkopi School, who won both the girls and boys events.

Fourteen teams of boys and twelve of girls took part in the competition, which was played by teams of 6 players, with all teams playing at least two matches. After 30 group matches, the successful teams advanced to the semi finals, and then the finals.

In the boys’ event Episkopi beat Heritage in the final, while their girls team beat Foleys to win their final. Trophies were provided by Cyprus Cricket Association and presented by Mr Gary Butcher of Heritage School, who expressed appreciation for the hard work of the volunteer umpires and photographer on a hot, sunny day. Over 150 children had enjoyed the competition, and perhaps the next Ben Stokes or Heather Knight might emerge from Cyprus!

In a record-breaking day in the CCA BAOFinancial 40 Over Cup, Black Caps scored a massive 449-8 against Cyprus Super Kings. Ankit Kumar and Preetaj Deol both scored centuries in an opening partnership of 250 in less than 25 overs. Pawandeep Paul (54) and Lovedeep Singh (48) added to the total, and the Super Kings also conceded 89 extras, following the 90 they gave away in their previous match – meaning that in addition to the extra runs they also had to bowl almost an extra 15 overs. Perhaps something for their coach to work on.

The Super Kings made 195 in reply, with Sivannarayana Patti 65 and Srinivas Angarekkala 40, while Caps’ Avinash Rane took 3-28. The winning margin for Black Caps was a breathtaking 254 runs.

Meanwhile Limassol Zalmi were dismissed for 99 by Moufflons, with Waqar Ali taking 4-25 and Muhammad Mohsin 3-22. Zeeshan Sarwar’s 66 not out led Moufflons to an easy 9-wicket win.

Four matches were played in the CCA BAOFinancial T20 Cup, where the tightest finish was in the low-scoring meeting of Limassol Bangladeshis and Cyprus Super Kings. After bowling their opponents out for 96 with Subareddy Alavala taking 4-11 and Thirupathi Reddy 3-26, the Super Kings needed 48 from Srinivas Angarekkala to get home by four wickets in the 18th over.

The formidable MSN Punjab Lions amassed 291-4 against Limassol Qalandars, with Mangala Gunasekara hitting 112 from 50 balls and Kulwinder Singh 60 from 21. Kulwinder followed his innings up with 3-15 as Qalandars were dismissed for 124, of which Sohail Ahsan made a good-looking 40.

The Nicosia derby between the Tigers and the Fighters went the way of Tigers by 89 runs. Roman Mazumder’s 63 and some useful contributions from the lower order helped Tigers to 185-8, with Monirul Islam taking 3-16 for the Fighters, who struggled to 96 all out in reply. Tigers’ Yasir Mehmood took 3-13 and Umar Farooq 3-19.

Markhor’s Awais Ahmed hit a strong 45 to help his team to 145-7 against Sri Lanka Lions. Then Tajammal Sardar’s 3-11 kept the Lions in check as they were bowled out for 110 with four overs remaining.

Next week features some interesting T20 matches as so-far unbeaten teams go head-to-head: Moufflons v Nicosia Tigers and Black Caps v Afghan Atalan. And in the 40 over cup Black Caps will be looking to extend their impressive start to the season. Both competitions are scheduled to finish by the end of July, when the leading teams will qualify for the finals.