Moghul wins T20 Independence Cup

SANJAY GOEL
Correspondent | Friday October 8, 2010 00:00

Moghul contested the final as underdogs after losing to Eagles twice this year. They were beaten in the Gaborone Cup and the prestigious 2010 GCC 35-over league before they stopped Eagles in the T20 final. Moghul beat Pioneers by six wickets to reach the final while Eagles overcame Gujarat XI by eight wickets in the semi.

Eagles' batting line-up is star-studded and feature Reginald Nehonde, a former member of the Under-19 Zimbabwe national squad, James Moses, a veteran of Botswana's national squad, with support from several young players. The bowling department was spearheaded by Moosa Gaolekwe, Botswana's national opening bowler.

Moghul also boast a powerful line-up led by Faisal Rana, Botswana's opening batsman, and the highest run-getter in the T20 tournament with 280. Rana was supported by Karan Kapoor, another national team batsman while Afzal Patel and Zain Abbasi were the pick of the Moghul bowlers. In the final, Eagles won the toss and elected to bat.

Rana and Feroze Gaswala with an impeccable record of opening the Moghul innings started in the usual way. They scored 31 runs in the first three overs. However, some tight bowling by Nehonde and Moses put Moghul on the back foot at 61/1 after 10 overs. Nehonde clean bowled Rana for 28 runs. Eagles kept tightening the grip over Moghul's innings with some accurate bowling by Shekhar Goel. Moghul could only muster 132 runs in their 20 overs, as Eagles justified their decision to bowl first.

Moghul needed early wickets to put pressure on Eagles and so they did not waste time in going for the jugular.Patel removed three batsmen in a space of 10 deliveries and as Kapoor bowled Edwin Tholonah in the fifth over, Eagles had slumped to 35/4 after five overs.  Moghuls were back in the game. Moses joined Nehonde and the two batsmen settled with their task, pushing and prodding, and hitting the loose balls to the fence. As the victory target reduced to less than 50 runs, Moses hit a glorious six and Eagles bounced back into the game. Eagles needed only 32 runs in the last four overs with six wickets in hand.

Nehonde was unfortunately run out in the next over for a well-made 47 off 38 balls with four fours. Needing 13 runs in the last over and in a valiant effort to clear the boundary, Moses was caught for 52 runs, pulling down the curtains for Eagles' innings, which fell short of the target by only five runs. Rana was declared the tournament's best batsman, while Sri Daran of Pioneers was best bowler.  Noor Ahmed of United Gymkhana was crowned player of the tournament for his all-round performance. Patel was adjudged the best player in the finals.