Silver Rainbow are First Capital Bank Cricket champs

Silver Rainbow Paints on Sunday beat White Lido Electrical by seven runs to claim the First Capital Bank (FCB) Cricket League title at Mpingwe Sports Club (MSC).

The final of the K3.5 million contest saw Silver making a total of 114 runs in 20 overs after being elected to bat first while White failed to chase down the score as they stuttered on 107 all-out.

Salim Veyragi, player of the tournament Mubassir Amiji and Minhaz Amodi contributed 31, 25 and 21 runs, respectively, to help Silver win the league for the first time in three years. Munaf Hola was equally influential in Silver’s glory after claiming five wickets to take home the man-of-the-match accolade.

“We were the underdogs coming into this game, but we managed to perform well,” said Silver captain Saeed Limdawala, whose side booted out last year’s champions Kukoma Orange with a four-wicket victory in the semi-finals.

“We have reaped the rewards of our hardwork and unrelenting fighting spirit. This was a great game for us and we are happy to be the champions.”

Ahson Rashid, Wakas Hundal and Shani Tasaduq tried their best to steady White’s ship with 29, 16 and 14 runs, in that order, but their individual efforts were not enough to steer them to the shores. Their all-rounder Imran Khan made 31 runs and claimed two wickets as they got bowled out before reaching the promised land.

Rashid, whose team produced the tournament’s best batsman Asim Rashid and best bowler Imran Khan, said they were just unfortunate to lose.

FCB brand manager Brian Mungomo Jnr, who was accompanied by the bank’s group general manager (Treasury and international banking) Thomas Kadantot, said they are happy with the organisation of the competition.

“The tournament was very well organised and we are happy to be associated with the sport, which is fast gaining popularity in the country,” he said.