Kings Kerala CC returned to winning ways in the Cricket Summer League, despite a confident performance by Punjab XI CC on Sunday afternoon.
Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, the bottom side Punjab XI managed to restrict the league leaders Kings Kerala to just 125 after bowling their opposition out.
Bipan Kumar claimed a five-wicket haul, becoming only the 2nd player this season to do so. The team that boasts the player with the best individual score this season (Ravinder Singh, 81) can now boast the player with the second best bowling figures this season with Bipan’s five wickets for 15 runs.
However, Punjab XI’s innings was stop-start and Kings took wickets frequently to ensure the former failed to gain any momentum.
Kulbeer Singh top-scored for Punjab XI with 33 while Basil George took 4 wickets as Punjab XI finished on 103/9. The result leaves Kings Kerala CC top on 90 points while Punjab XI remain bottom on 28 points.
Super Kings CC reduced the gap at the top to one point with a narrow victory against Mater Dei CC on Saturday morning.
Captain Aamar Sharma top scored for Super Kings with 41 while a late blast from Aaftab Khan of 39 runs helped them to a score of 156/4 in their 20 overs.
Muthukumaran Murugesan took two wickets for Mater Dei.
In reply, Cornelius Khan and Kushilesh Kuppaka were ticking along nicely until the former was dismissed by Suhrid Roy.
Kuppaka and captain Sam Aquilina were then given out in back to back deliveries to really tip the balance in favour of Super Kings.
A late knock from Murugesan of 25 runs off 13 balls could not force Mater Dei over the line as they finished on 152 for 8 wickets.
Super Kings demonstrated their sharpness in the field once again by taking three run-outs. Mater Dei CC end the weekend seventh while Super Kings CC sit comfortably in second on 89 points.
Marsa CC got back to winning ways after back-to-back defeats with a comfortable win over HSBC Malta CC on Sunday morning.
Marsa, opting to bowl first, bowled efficiently and effectively as they bowled out their opposition for 125 runs.
HSBC’s bright spark yet againt was their captain Michael Goonetilleke as he carried his bat for 50 runs, the only batsman to score 50+ runs in two games this season and the first player to score 200 runs overall.
Navdeep Singh Gill posted figures of 3 wickets for 16 runs while Bikram Arora and Glenn Tavilla took 2 wickets each. Marsa CC knocked off the runs within 13 overs. Sumair Khan top scored with 25 runs while Zeeshan Khan and captain Haroon Mughal contributed with scores of 21 and 22 respectively. Marsa CC move back into 3rd while HSBC Malta CC drop down to 8th.
In a remarkable season turn-around, Paddy Power.Betfair CC recorded their third win in a row with their victory against fellow play-off hopefuls St John CC on Saturday afternoon.
PPB chose to bat first and posted a score of 160/4. Nowell Khosla top-scored with 70 runs off 46 deliveries as St John were hit for 15 boundaries in the field.
St John’s innings got off strongly with Sean Byrne and Jurg Hirschi attaining scores of 47 runs and 37 runs respectively and the team being on 98 runs for the loss of 3 wickets with the half the innings left.
However, a middle-order collapse occurred with Khosla contributing with the ball as his 3 crucial wickets helped his side retruct St John to 148 runs for the loss of nine wickets.
Moon Malik and Michael Nazir also took 2 wickets. Paddy Power.Betfair CC remain outside the play-off spots by 13 points in 5th while St John CC are a point behind in 6th.
Next weekend, during the penultimate gameweek, Mater Dei CC will have their bye while the Top 4 as it stands all play on Saturday as Marsa face off against Kings Kerala while Super Kings play Kerala Tuskers.
Standings: Kings Kerala 90; Super Kings 89; Marsa 77; Kerala Tuskers 69; Paddy Power.Betfair 56; St John 55; Mater Dei 41; HSBC Malta 40; Punjab XI 28.