Defending champions Anchor Industries and Fattani Printers on Sunday set up FMB Mpingwe Sports Club (MSC) T20 Cricket Tournament final clash following their semi-final victories over Oriental Cricket Club (OCC) and MSC, respectively.
Anchor scraped through to the ultimate battle next weekend after beating stubborn KU Destroyers by a single wicket in extra over following a tie in normal play while Fattani Printers overcame EazyPack’s resistance by 91 runs.
At the OCC, Anchor won the toss to bat first and they made 108 runs in the entire 20 overs but Destroyers, the only side comprising indigenous Malawians to reach this far, effectively chased down the score with 108 runs all out for the match to end in a tie.
However, it was after playing in the super (extra) over that Anchor emerged victorious as they made eight runs with a wicket and two balls remaining. They replied to Destroyers’ seven runs.
Ahson Rashid contributed 30 runs to Anchors’ total score and he became best player of the match. Destroyers’ Dickson Matiya was second best performer with an individual score of 29 runs.
At the MSC, Fattani made 180 runs in 20 overs in the first innings but EazyPack failed to match up the score after making 89 runs all-out. Aasif Rustam was the key man in Fattani’s victory after contributing 78 runs and it was not surprising when he was named man-of-the-match’.
EazyPack’s Sadiq Bhaththi and Suhel Manjra scored 35 runs and claimed two wickets, respectively but their performance was not good enough to rescue their team from jaws of defeat.
“The results mean Anchor Industries will face Fattani Printers in the final at the MSC on October 2. Both teams are equally good to win the competition. We are looking forward to an exciting final this weekend,” said MSC sports director Abdul Wahab Jagot. n
