Eurowrap: Matautaava stars in Denmark

Vanuatu international all-rounder Patrick Matautaava made a sensational entrance into Denmark’s club cricket on Saturday, when he smashed a 55-ball 99, containing nine fours and six sixes, for Herning in a T20 championship game against Soraner at Skanderborg.

Matautaava shared a third-wicket stand of 151 with Surya Anand (58 from 38 deliveries) which enabled Herning to recover from a perilous 3 for two and set their opponents a challenging target of 181.

Soraner were not equal to the task, and although opener Krishna Mikkilineni contributed a 27-ball 41 they were all out for 129, Glenn Hedevang the pick of Herning’s attack with three for 20.

And Soraner fared even worse in their second match, managing only 90 in reply to Skanderborg’s massive total of 235 for three, in which Rizwan Mahmood hammered an unbeaten 108 off 55 deliveries, hitting 11 fours and six sixes, while Shangeev Thanikaithasan contributed a 27-ball 47.

This was always going to be too big an ask, and with medium-pacer Joraij Habib claiming four for 19 Soraner finished 145 runs short.

In Group B on Sunday KB’s Zimbabwean overseas player Brian Chari starred with a 66-ball knock of 139 against Glostrup which included no fewer than 13 sixes to go with his nine fours, and KB finished with 232 for two; Chari and Saif Ahmed (67) put on 141 for the first wicket from 13.3 overs.

Glostrup made no real attempt to chase down that KB total and limped to 107 for six from their 20 overs.

In Germany’s new T20 Bundesliga, FCA 04 Darmstadt confirmed their strong position in Pool 2 with victories over Wacker Burghausen and CC Bayern: Wacker were no match for the Darmstadters as they were bowled out for 59 in 8.5 overs in pursuit of their opponents’ 115 for seven, but Bayern put up more of a fight.

They made 183 for five, and it took Darmstadt until the second ball of the final over before they completed their five-wicket win.

In Karlsruhe MSC Frankfurt could only sit and watch the rain, as their matches against TV Pflugfelden and TSG Rohrbach were both abandoned without a ball being bowled, while in Pool 1 Kummerfelder SV had a 10-run victory over BSC Rehberge.

The T20 competition got under way in the Czech Republic at the weekend, with victories for defending champions Prague, Prague Barbarians and Brno over Prague Spartans Vanguards, Vinohrady and Prague Spartans Mobilizers respectively.

The tensest battle was at Vinoř on Saturday, where Prague, defending 149 for nine, in which Smit Patel had played a crucial part with an 11-ball cameo of 23 not out, seemed to have the game won when the Vanguards were on 111 for nine, only to see their opponents post a last-wicket stand which brought them to within nine runs of victory before Neeraj Tyagi finally fell for a courageous 26.

The Barbarians cruised to an eight-wicket win after bowling Vinohrady out for 94 (Vamshi Krishna three for 8 from four overs), while on Sunday Brno’s 144 (Dylan Steyn 43) was enough to account for the Mobilizers, who could only manage 114 for seven in response.

In Spain the 30-over Liga Catalana has been running since 27 February, and this weekend’s three matches produced one outstanding batting performance and two extremely close finishes.

For Group B side Volcano opener Adil Ali made an aggressive 118, from 77 deliveries with 11 fours and six sixes, helping his team to 260 for seven, and Goldy Jaspal then claimed five for 16 as the Viladecans Tigers were dismissed for 123.

In Group A Fateh moved to the top of the table after dismissing Azad Chardikalah for 85 (Jagroop Singh four for 7), but they reached their target with just one wicket in hand as Balwinder Singh took four for 24 for their opponents.

The Group C game between Barcelona International and Punjab Warriors was equally exciting, the former claiming their first win of the season by just four runs after they had been dismissed for 137.

Further south, in the Gibraltar T20 Premier League teenager Maanav Nayak dominated Lathbury’s 44-run victory over the Mediterranean Vikings, making an unbeaten 98 from 63 deliveries as Lathbury ran up 195 for one.

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