Eight-Match Series in Chikhil, Surat District – Gujarat State
Today’s result in Chikhil
Game 7 – 40- Over Limited Overs Game – February 21
Bharuch District C.A 77 runs all out in 31.3 overs lost Uganda 80 runs
for 5 wickets in 14.5 overs by five wickets with 151 balls remaining.
Toss: Won by Uganda captain Roger Mukasa who elected to field first.
FIRST INNINGS
Bharuch District Cricket Association XI Batting
Kashyap Prajapati 20 runs off 36 balls (2 fours)
Smith Patel 19 runs off 44 balls (3 fours)
Uganda Bowling
Henry Ssenyondo (5 wickets for 6 runs in 5.3 overs)
Frank Nsubuga (3 wickets for 8 runs in 7 overs)
SECOND INNINGS
Uganda Batting
Hamu Kayondo 32 runs off 30 balls (4 fours & 1 six)
Simon Ssesazi 13 runs off 23 balls (2 fours)
Bharuch District Cricket Association XI Bowling
Muzzemil Kureshi (4 wickets for 8 runs in 2.5 overs)
Akash Pandey (1 wicket for 18 runs in 4 overs)
Man of Match: Henry Ssenyondo
Today – 40-Overs
Sterling Generators vs. Uganda
QUICK POINTERS
- Coming into this game, the Cricket Cranes were like a hungry lion that was willing to leave no holds barred in a fight to save its prey from being snatched to fight until nothing was left in them to save their prey from being snatched from them.
- Why? Coach Steve Tikolo had just laid down the gauntlet on the team and asked them to maintain their 100 per cent record (7 wins now) on the Tour of India so far. And the team was hungrier for victory because Bharuch District Cricket Association XI had been hyped by many officials and natives as the team that would inflict the first defeat on Cricket Cranes.
- And unlike previous sides that drove in a little late for their games, Bharuch District C.A were early birds in Chikhil Town having made a 150 kilometers road trip from the South Gujarat border to be in time for the 9.30am (7am Uganda time) pre-match toss.
- Their captain Kayshap Prajapati could even afford a smile when he lost the toss to Uganda’s Roger Mukasa, who duly asked him to bat first on wicket taking lots of spin.
- Prajapati (20 runs off 36 balls) opened the batting with Smith Patel (19 runs off 44 balls) and the pair played with the assuredness of experienced pro journeymen as they reached 38 for no loss in 11.5 overs. But as they planned to shift gears from consolidation of wickets to productivity of runs, Mukasa introduced his elder brother Frank Nsubuga, an off-spinner, into the attack.
- Nsubuga (3 wickets for 8 runs in 7 overs) claimed the scalps of both openers and Man of Match (MOM) Henry Ssenyondo (5 wickets for 6 runs in 5.3 overs) cleaned the mid-order and wag-less tail-enders as the last nine batsmen added only 39 runs to leave the star-bolstered Bharuch C.A buried at 77 runs all out in 31.3 overs.
- Coach Tikolo’s plea to young openers Simon Ssesazi (13 runs off 23 balls) and Zephaniah Arinaitwe (6 runs off 11 balls) was that they chase down the set target without returning to the dug-out. But Arinaitwe was back for a quick shower at 21 for 1 inside 3 overs and Ssesazi followed at 64 for 2 after 10.2 overs.
- But that wasn’t the end for Uganda’s jitters with the bat. Another three wickets fell to witty and wily left-arm spinner Muzzemil Kureshi (4 wickets for 8 runs in 2.5 overs) as Hamu Kayondo (32 off 30), Mukasa (2) and Kenneth Waiswa (0) were sent packing in quick succession.
- The game was left to U-19 players Steven Wabwose (8 runs not out) and wicketkeeper Fred Achelam (2 not out) to wrap up a five-wicket win – the Cricket Cranes’ seventh successive win in India – with 151 balls remaining.
- At the end of the day, Bharuch’s big name players had been reduced to naught by the Cricket Cranes. The experience garnered over 12 games on the tour thus far made the difference against the Gujarat State side that run into a Ugandan side, whose loose bolts had been tightened and were in sync like a well-oiled machine.
- Mukasa and his mates wrap up the eight-match series with a 40-Over match against Sterling Generators at the Sanjay Cricket Farm Oval today.