The quarter-finals of the 12-team First Merchant Bank (FMB) 20 Overs Cricket Tournament kicks off on Sunday at Mpingwe and Indian sports clubs following the end of preliminary games last weekend.
MSC White beat MSC Blue by 34 runs at the Indian Sports Club (ISC) to top Group A with five straight victories, two points ahead of defending champions MSC Orange who finished as runners-up with eight points.
MSC Blue and ISC completed the group’s qualifying list on third and fourth positions with six and four points respectively.
MSC Silver are on top of Group B with eight points and will lead MSC Red, MSC Grey and MSC Gold into the quarter-finals. MSC Gold earned a last-gasp 128-127runs victory over MSC Grey on Sunday to finish fourth.
According to Southern Region Cricket League (SRCL) chairperson Shiraz Zaveri, White, Orange, Blue and ISC are expected to meet Red, Silver, Gold and ISC respectively.
“The quarter-final games will be played this Sunday, but we are yet to decide which teams will play at which venue,” said Zaveri.
He, however, said that semi-finals and finals will be conducted at the ISC on September 9.
Zaveri added that this is the first time, since the competition started six years ago, that MSC Orange have finished second in group stages, but it has been a terrible season for newcomers BSC-2 and Veterans who have completed the preliminary round with five straight losses each.
