The Coppa d’Italia reached the last sixteen at the weekend with the final group matches producing some thrilling moments.
The most exciting came in the tightly-contested Group E, where Lonigo, having made 243 for four in their 20 overs, held on to beat Royal Padova by a single run. In the other match of their double-header Royal Padova won by a comparatively comfortable 5 runs, but Lonigo’s win was sufficient to take them into second place in the group behind Jinnah, who shared the points from their games with Padova.
In Group C leaders Brescia were not in action, but Bergamo United missed out on overtaking them and making sure of home advantage in the round of 16 by losing one of their two matches against Albano. They won the first by 24 runs, but were then dismissed for 143 in the second, where they were chasing Albano’s 148 for nine.
Fresh Tropical made sure of top spot in Group A with a double win over Milan United, who were nevertheless runners-up in the group, while in Group H Asian Latina confirmed their position at the head of the table with two comfortable victories over Lux Roma.
Qualification from the other four groups had already been settled, but in Group D Royal Parma made sure of third place by beating Pianoro twice, and Milan Kingsgrove had to be content with sharing the points with Pak Lions Ghedi in Group B.
Roma, already securely top of Group G, finished with a 3-wicket win over Capannelle.
The draw for next Sunday’s matches is:
Fresh Tropical vs Cantù
Torino vs Milan United
Brescia vs Cricket Stars
Kings XI vs Bergamo United
Jinnah Brescia vs Perugia
Baracca Prato vs Lonigo
Roma vs Napoli
Asian Latina vs Rome Bangla
Beveren maintain their title challenge in Belgium
Beveren kept their hopes of taking Belgium’s 50-over Division 1 title alive on Saturday with a four-wicket victory over Antwerp Indians at Wilrijk, but with leaders Ostend Exiles gaining the match points from a forfeit by bottom club Hasselt it will all come down to the final game of the season between Beveren and Ostend CC next Sunday.
The Indians made an excellent start after winning the toss and electing to bat, Yash Shah (38) and Sherul Mehta putting on 93 for the first wicket in 22.3 overs, but then Shahid Ullah Otmanzai pulled things back for Beveren with a ten-over spell which yielded four wickets for just 19 runs, and despite a late flurry from Jay Shah and Hiren Parikh the Antwerpers closed on 209 for eight.
Beveren needed only 38.1 overs to reach this target: opener Zahedullah Safi got them going with 43, including four sixes, and with Ashiqullah Said making 40 and Durani Zahid 35, both at better than a run a ball, the visitors made sure of maintaining a superior net run rate to the Exiles as well as taking the points.
You’re reading Emerging Cricket — brought to you by a passionate group of volunteers with a vision for cricket to be a truly global sport, and a mission to inspire passion to grow the game.
Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, please subscribe for regular updates, and follow EC on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Don’t know where to start? Check out our features list, country profiles, and subscribe to our podcast.
Support us from US$2 a month — and get exclusive benefits, by becoming an EC Patron.
