Super Kings CC and Marsa CC will contest the final of the T20 Summer League after emerging victorious from last weekend’s semi-finals.
St John CC and Super Kings CC figured in the first semi-final with Super Kings’ captain Amar Sharma opting to bowl first.
This was a strategic move, to follow up on their astonishing bowling performance from last weekend when they bowled out HSBC Malta CC for only eight runs.
The hero from last weekend, Ashok Bishnoi, got them off to a flyer as he bowled George Agius with the first ball of the match to claim his 20th wicket of the season.
Next to follow was Matthew Towns (27), adjudged trapped LBW by Varun Prasath. Sean Byrne surpassed 200 runs for the campaign before he drove Suhrid Roy straight to Sharma for an easy catch. Byrne scored of 24 runs off just 16 balls.
St John needed an innings from someone and it was down to their inspirational captain, Jurg Hirschi, to deliver yet again. Hirschi “The Turschi” finished not out on 53 runs. This was his second half-century for the season and his first since the opening game.
Wickets started to tumble as Kings’ bowler Suhrid Roy dismissed Lee Tuck, Tariq Javed and Gerald Sant for low scores. Bishnoi claimed a catch off Sharma’s bowling to dismiss Andrew Parsonson. Jack Barrit remained not out on five as St John finished on 115/7 from their 20 overs.
Suhrid Roy’s bowling figures were four wickets for 12 runs off his four overs, moving him onto 14 wickets for the season.
Super Kings got their innings off to a solid start, with openers Amar Sharma and Gopal Chaturvedi opened the batting for Super Kings. The pair were ticking along comfortably until Sharma was bowled for 21 by Hirschi for his 20th wicket of the season.
Chaturvedi himself was next to go as Tuck took a brilliant catch off of Barrit’s bowling.
Next batsman in, Aaftab Khan fell quickly, trapped LBW by Agius. Varun Prasath wrapped up the victory for Super Kings in the 17th over as his innings of 37 runs off just 25 balls helped his team into the final as he surpassed 200 runs mark for the season.
In the second semi-final, Marsa CC was up against pre-season favourites Kings Kerala.
Kings Kerala captain, Sujesh Appu opted to bowl first and his decision was vindicated early on, as Bose Paul returned to the side to get his team’s first wicket in the fifth over, as he claimed the wicket of the talented Jaswinder Singh.
Paul was back in business shortly after, as he picked up another dismissal soon after with Zubair Mohammed being next to go for Marsa.
Sumair Khan’s birthday celebrations were spoilt by Paul, dismissing him for a gusty 24 runs. Bikram Arora and Glenn Tavilla then got to work, manufacturing a quick partnership before Arora was dismissed by a stunning catch from Ajay John.
Tavilla continued his onslaught in keeping Marsa’s momentum going with two huge sixes, before being bowled by Al Ameen with Marsa’s total just passing the 100 runs.
Tavilla’s score of 32 was Marsa’s highest of the game. Waseem Abbas had a short, but eventful stay of the crease, he notched 10 runs off five balls before Paul bowled him, who finished with figures of four wickets for 20 runs, his side’s top performance of the game.
Marsa’s captain, Haroon Mughal, and Navdeep Singh Gill added some late runs for their team with the former being run out on the last ball. Marsa finished on 146/7 in their 20 overs.
Kings Kerala got off to a flying start and was cruising along early before Marsa’s Arora bowled Samuel Sanish on 18.
Avinash Dilip fell next for Kings as Singh Gill took his first wicket of the day. Kings Kerala’s Basil George played a patient and calculated innings, his efforts saw him reach a score of 50 runs with a power shot for six.
Marsa were the ones celebrating shortly after as the very next ball saw George skew Arora straight to Sumair Khan with his team’s score on 87.
The capitulation followed soon afterwards as Kings Kerala only scored 37 runs in their next seven overs.
Kings’ captain, Sujesh Appu was run-out by Singh Gill while Al Ameen was run-out himself soon after by arguably the league’s best fielder, Glenn Tavilla.
Marsa’s next two wickets were taken by Mughal and Singh Gill - the former trapping Paul for LBW and then bowling Ciril Matthew, while the latter skittled the stumps of Navin James and Arun Kumar.
Kings Kerala CC finishes on 124/9 in their 20 overs, handing a 22 run win to Marsa CC and a place in the Grand Final.
SATURDAY’S FIXTURES
THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF
9.30am St John CC v Kings Kerala CC
GRAND FINAL
1.10pm Super Kings CC v Marsa CC