Battle for quarter-final gets tougher in OCC Cricket

Battle for quarter-final slots in the Oriental Cricket Club (OCC) 20-overs Tournament will resume this Sunday at Indian Sports Club (ISC) and OCC.

Group-A leaders Fattani Gold and their Group-B counterparts Mpingwe Sports Club (MSC) Silver, already secured their last-eight slots last weekend when they beat MSC Yellow 158-120 and MSC Blue 182-146, respectively.

Gold have five points from two wins and a draw while Silver have six points from three wins and a loss. Each team has to play five games to complete their group matches.

But as for MSC White, MSC Purple, MSC Yellow, MSC Brown, MSC Orange, MSC Blue and ISC, they have to win their encounters this Sunday to be guaranteed of quarter-final places.

In Group-A encounters at ISC, MSC White will take on OCC while MSC Purple will be up against MSC Yellow. In Group-B at OCC, MSC Brown and MSC Orange will be sorting it out against MSC Blue and ISC, respectively.

“The competition is getting tighter this weekend because any slip up will spell doom for the teams. Despite that, we urge participating teams to play fair in all matches,” said the competition’s organizing committee general secretary Saeed Limdawala.

Munir King, who made 31 runs for Blue against MSC Silver last weekend, said they will beat MSC Brown and seal their quarterfinal berth.

“Complacency killed us last Sunday, but we will not lose steam this weekend,” he said. n