Kavindu, Ruwan and Avinash star on busy cricket weekend

By Richard Boxall

Sri Lanka Lions had a mixed weekend of cricket, comprehensively beating Amdocs in the BAOFinancial 40 Over Cup presented by HurryCurry on Saturday before losing a crucial T20 match against MSN Punjab Lions on Sunday.

A century by Kavindu (125) backed up by Nalin’s 67 and 78 by Suresh took the Sri Lankan team to a total of 376-8 in their 40 overs. Amdocs’ Ronak did well in the circumstances to pick up 5-41, and then Gaurav scored 59 in reply, but Amdocs were dismissed for 189, with Kamal taking 4-36 for the Lions.

Next day brought a different story as the team slipped to 129 all out in the 20th over. For Punjab Lions Vansham took 3-16 and Mangala bagged 3-21 before hitting 51 as his team won by 3 wickets. Ravindu took 3-19 as the Punjabi team were made to work for their win.

Amdocs had some consolation for their Saturday defeat with a big win over Philips Warriors. Gaurav (88) and Sagar (50) put on 142 for the second wicket to take Amdocs towards their total of 177-5. In reply Vishaldeep’s unbeaten 30 was the only innings of note as the Warriors managed just 95-6, with Amdocs’ Sujith taking 4-19.

Akrotiri gave Black Caps a good run for their money before falling short by 17 runs. The Caps hit a daunting 215-4, with Bhupinder making 84, Resham 41 not out and Sandhu 36. Akrotiri gave it a good go, with Burdekin hitting 48 from 18 balls, and after his dismissal the chase was continued by Gregory (31), Sanderson (43) and French (31), but in the end the target was just out of reach, as Sandhu continued his good all-round game with 3-24.

The best all-round performance of the weekend was probably that of Lankan SC’s Ruwan. Promoted to number 3, he top-scored against Limassol Qalandars with 39, and with three others also passing 30 the Lankans were able to post 192. Then his 4-12, together with 4-21 by Roshan, demolished the Qalandars’ batting for an all-out score of 56. Sohail took 4-40 in an otherwise disappointing performance by the Qalandars.

Ruwan’s fine bowling figures were put in the shade by Moufflons’ Avinash, who took a remarkable 6-6 in his 4 overs. Kipro Tigers of Limassol set off well with a 62-run partnership between Towdihul (36) and Shawon, but once Avinash got to work they collapsed to 130 all out, a total which Moufflons comfortably knocked off for the loss of 3 wickets.

Another notable performance in this match was the bowling of Iresha Chathurani, a young woman playing in the Moufflons men’s team. Given an opportunity with the ball, she seized her chance with two wickets for 6 runs.

Markhor scored 199-8 against Nicosia Fighters, led by Shahzad’s 53 and Rana’s 47, with Fighters’ Monirul claiming 4-28. In reply Fighters were unable to threaten their target and finished on 115-9.

This week a young RAF Development squad visited Cyprus for some training in the Mediterranean sunshine and a few games of cricket. After being beaten twice by the British Forces in Cyprus XI, they took on the Cyprus national team in two T20 matches.

In the first they were bowled out for 98, with Brar the best bowler with 2-14, before Akila’s 29 led Cyprus to a 6-wicket victory.

In the second game Cyprus batted first and scored 199-8, with skipper Burdekin making 54, Akila 45 and Prasad 39. In the RAF innings Brar was again the most successful bowler with 3-14, but the visitors put up a good fight, led by their captain Fuller who hit a defiant 53, though in the end they fell short on 167-8.

This completed a good week for Cyprus Cricket, which had just learned of its acceptance as a member of the Cyprus National Olympic Committee. The decision was welcomed by Cyprus Cricket Federation president Muhammad Husain: “We are thankful to the executive board of the Cyprus Olympic Committee for their approval and we look forward to working closely with them to further grow the sport on our beautiful island. This is a historic day for Cyprus Cricket Federation and it opens new opportunities for our athletes.”