Cyprus cricket T20 semi finalists decided

By Richard Boxall

The quarter finals of the Autumn T20 Cup produced some impressive performances, most notably Royal’s 7-wicket win over Limassol Qalandars in which they successfully chased down a target of 213.

Nicosia Tigers played a good game to beat MSN Punjab Lions, Sri Lanka Lions demolished Black Caps, and Markhor gained a narrow victory over Moufflons.

The semi-final line-up on Sunday at Ypsonas will be Royal v Sri Lanka Lions at 8.30 followed by Markhor v Nicosia Tigers at 12.30.

At a Happy Valley ground that was initially very wet from overnight dew, Nicosia Tigers had a difficult start but prospered in their middle order through Iftekar Jaman (30), Asif Mehmood (45 not out) and Shakhawat Rasel (26) to reach a decent total of 170-7.

Punjab Lions also started badly as Aminul Islam Choudhury bowled a good opening spell of 3-20. Captain Tejwinder Singh hit a defiant 52 off 28 balls before being unluckily bowled off his pads by Waqas Akhtar, who delivered a decisive spell of 4-19 as the Lions subsided to 113 all out, leaving the Tigers victorious by 57 runs.

The second game at Happy Valley was dominated by the bowlers as Black Caps were dismissed for 60, with only Sukhjinder Singh (28) making any impression with the bat. The four bowlers used by the Lions all performed well. Openers Kamal Raiz and Lahiru Udayanga bowled their full 4 overs straight through, recording figures of 2-6 and 2-14 respectively.

They were followed by Ravindu Asanka and Chamal Sadun who completed the job by the 16th over. Ravindu was a constant threat with his left arm seam bowling and took 4-18, while Sadun took 2-22. The bowlers were backed up by good catches by Sameera Madushan and Jeewan Arachchilage and a juggling effort by Kamal Raiz.

The Lions knocked off the runs inside 10 overs but made hard work of it, losing 5 wickets, four of them to Resham Singh (4-17), before Srinath Rajith hit the winning 6.

As usual, higher scores were achieved at Ypsonas, where Markhor made 184-9, led by 45 from Muhammad Qamar Ali and 34 by Tasawar Gujjar. Shoaib Ahmad took 4-46 and then scored 36 in the Moufflons’ chase.

But despite his efforts, together with 36 not out from Waqar Ali and a generous 40 extras by Markhor, Moufflons only managed to reach 178-6, losing by 6 runs.

In the afternoon game Qalandars hit 213-6, with Muhammad Qasim making 60, Muhammad Huzaifa 47 not out, and Sohail Ahmed 30. Karan Singh was the most economical bowler, and then helped Umar Shah put on 70 for the first wicket in Royal’s reply.

Umar laid the foundations with his 71, and the decisive contribution was made by the captain, Sarpreet Singh, who smashed an unbeaten 63 off only 22 balls, including 8 sixes, so that the target was reached with more than two overs to spare, for the loss of only 3 wickets.

The weekend’s semi finals promise to be competitive matches. With no clear favourites to reach the final, all four teams will no doubt fancy their chances.