A busy weekend in Denmark’s Elite Division ensured that the title race would remain open until next Saturday’s final round, with Skanderborg and KB still sharing the lead on the table and with Svanholm facing an uphill battle.
The clash between Svanholm and KB next week is now absolutely vital for both teams, while Skanderborg will face fifth-placed Herning knowing that they have a net run rate advantage over their rivals which could be crucial if they and KB both win.
Svanholm’s big double weekend began well enough, with an eight-wicket victory over Herning; Mads Henriksen with five for 14 in 6.4 overs was the key to Herning making only 167, Surya Anand contributing 72, and then Jonas Henriksen (52) and Hamid Shah (57) put on 85 for the first wicket to set Svanholm well on course for the win.
Shah was the first to go, but then Henriksen was joined by Saud Munir, and his unbeaten 43 was sufficient to steer Svanholm to victory.
It was a different story on Sunday, however, as Svanholm, put in to bat at Skanderborg, were dismissed for 138, Anders Bülow taking three for 19 and Aqeel Amjad and Christian Peck picking up two wickets apiece.
57 for five at one stage, Svanholm were partially rescued by 48 from Musa Mahmood, but it wasn’t enough to deny Skanderborg, for whom Taranjeet Singh made 67 and Rizwan Mahmood 40 as they raced to a five-wicket victory in an NRR-improving 20.3 overs, Toqeer Ahmad taking three for 35 in a losing cause.
KB made short work of Ishøj on Sunday, Mark Hocking and Basit Javed each taking five for 24 as Ishøj were skittled for 48 in just 12.2 overs; KB needed only six overs to complete their nine-wicket win, more than nullifying any NRR advantage Skanderborg might have gained from their efforts.
Relegation for Albertslund was confirmed as they lost at home to Soraner, but this bottom-of-the-table encounter produced the tensest game of the weekend, Soraner clinging on despite Muhammed Atif’s five for 34 to win by just one wicket, 39 from Naveen Bobburi and an unbeaten 28 from Pankaj Singh enabling them to recover from 83 for eight as they chased Albertslund’s 158 all out.
Milan Kingsgrove squeeze past Fresh Tropical and into quarter-finals
A superb 127 not out from 109 deliveries from national captain Jay Perera saw Milan Kingsgrove recover from 39 for five to an imposing 242 for nine in their round of sixteen match in the Italian 50-over championship on Sunday, but that proved only just enough against a determined Fresh Tropical.
Amir Sharif contributed 61 to the reply and Fahad Malik 54, but Kingsgrove held firm and eventually dismissed their opponents for 230, winning by 12 runs.
Kingsgrove’s total was dwarfed by Pianoro’s 398 for seven against Lucca, who were dismissed for 141 and lost by 257 runs, while Capannelle posted the lowest score of the day, Charanjeet Singh’s seven wickets doing most of the damage as they were all out for 29 chasing Asian Latina’s 138.
Elsewhere, Bergamo beat Bogliasco by 52 runs, Kings XI, thanks to an even 100 from Simranjit Singh, were too strong for Janjua Brescia to the tune of 128 runs, and Royal Parma defeated Bologna by 81 runs.
Jinnah Brescia cruised to five-wicket victory over Padova, and Roma won their derby encounter with Royal Roma by a six-wicket margin.
Tallinn Strikers champions in Estonia
80 from captain Arslan Amjad Gondal, made from 40 deliveries, put Tallinn Strikers into the box seat in the final of Estonia’s T20 Premier League, and they went on to beat the Rising Stars by 52 runs.
He was eventually one of three victims for the Rising Stars’ Mamum al Mannan, claimed at a cost of 26 runs.
Then Habib Khan took over with the ball for the Strikers, his five for 18 helping to reduced the opposition to 25 for six, and despite Riaz Uddin’s 36 not out they could only manage to reach 127.
Prague CC suffer first defeat
Brno inflicted a first loss of the season on leaders Prague in Brno on Saturday, bowling their opponents out for 70 as they chased the home side’s 132.
Surya Rengarajan’s four for 12 and Aakash Parmar’s three for 14 had run through the visitors, who then had even more problems, especially against Anthony Francis, who finished with the remarkable figures of 4 – 1 – 3 – 5.
Bohemians took full advantage of Prague’s lapse with a 114-run victory over Vinohrady at Vinoř on Sunday, the highlight of which was Sazib Bhuiyan’s remarkable 88-ball knock of 162, which included 15 fours and ten sixes.
Bhuiyan’s innings propelled Bohemians to a total of 275, despite Siddarth Goud taking four for 48 and Frederyck Heydenrych four for 51, and Vinohrady could only manage 161 in reply.
At Vinoř on Saturday, Prague Spartans posted 201 for nine against Prague Barbarians and then bowled their opponents out for 133, Sagar Reddy taking four for 14 and Neeraj Tyagi three for 19.
Peel take Tinker Cup in Isle of Man
In one of Europe’s more curious formats Peel beat Castletown by 88 runs in the two-innings Isle of Man’s Tinker Cup final at Mullen-e-Cloie on Saturday.
Batting first, Peel made 117 for five in their 10-over first innings, thanks to Eddie Beard’s 29-ball 65 not out, before restricting Castletown to 80 for five.
With a lead of 37, Peel then added a further 178 for six in the 20 overs of their second innings, Ollie Webster making 64 and Peter Lewis 40 not out.
That left Castletown to make an improbable 216 to win, and they could only manage 127, Webster taking three for 9 and Brendan Bennett three for 12.
Semi-finalists settled in Austria
In the final round of round-robin matches in Austria Vienna Afghan slipped past Austrian Cricket Tigers and into top semi-final spot.
After leading for much of the season the Tigers lost their last league game by just 2 runs to Austria Vienna, who nevertheless missed out on the play-offs.
Chasing Austria’s 141 for eight, the Tigers reached 139 for five, Umair Tariq making 74 not out, but three run outs in five balls cost them dearly and they fell just short.
Vienna Afghan had no such difficulties: they make 171 for eight, Amanullah Ahmadzai top-scoring with 55, and then restricted Lords CC to 135 for eight.
The other semi-finalists will be Salzburg, who beat fifth-placed Afghan Steiermark by six wickets, and Cricketer CC, who were much too strong for Indian Vienna and won by 69 runs.
Sentrum Oslo T20 league champions in Norway
An intense weekend of T20 cricket in Norway ended with Oslo club Sentrum beating Sandnes by six wickets to clinch the 2021 national championship.
Chasing a Sandnes total of 158 for seven, Sentrum reached their target with nearly three overs to spare, Mohsin Mehfooz making 51 from 27 deliveries and Muhammad Shahbaz 46.
Sentrum were the capital’s sole survivors in the national play-offs, Sandnes having beaten MASK A in the quarter-finals before proving too strong for Lassa Stavanger, who had beaten MASK B to reach the semi-finals.
The champions beat Ntnui Kolstad and Bærum on their way to the final.
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