Dare Devils Upset Gujarat XI

SANJAY GOEL
Correspondent | Monday September 27, 2010 00:00

After posting a moderate 114 runs, Dare Devils had given Gujarat XI an easy target to chase. But they failed to take advantage when Dare Devils staged a spirited fightback.

First Rakesh Chandra bowled out Rauf Sheikh with a first ball beauty. He followed it two overs later by clean bowling Azaz Chauhan for 12. Imran Pathan was caught off Aziz Mintoo for eight and Arif Shaikh followed, lbw off Rakesh for seven, as Gujarat XI slumped to 31-4.

Dare Devils was making the most of the difficult batting conditions at night.   When the fifth Gujarat wicket fell at 53, Dare Devils' flags started showing their heads. Sabeer Shaikh (14) stood between Dare Devils and victory, but veteran Shaukat Ali's economic spell of 11 runs in 4 overs restricted Gujarat XI to 94 all out and 19 runs short.

It was a fine victory, gained by spin and speed, greater power of endurance guided by the superb captaincy of Dinesh Chandra.  In other games, United Gymkhana got the better of Mazars by 103 runs, Chennai Boyz beat High School XI by 18 runs and Lobatse overcame Spicy by 63 runs. United Gymkhana, one of the oldest clubs at the GCC, displayed its best against Mazars. Noor Ahmed (76 off 43 balls) and Aqlaq Raja (126* off 61 balls) put on 192 runs for the third wicket, a record on its own in T20 cricket.

Raja's century, the first in T20 cricket in Botswana, was of immense power as he smacked 17 fours and four sixes to the delight of many Gymkhana fans.  Elvis Chipfumba (3-11) and Manzoor Hussein (2-28) shared the bowling honours for Gymkhana as Mazars managed only 136-8. Anil Kumar of Mazars showed his batting skills by scoring 70 runs off 41 balls with 12 fours and a glorious six.

Chennai Boys batting first against High School XI scored 142-5 in 20 overs with young Siddi Rangaswamy scoring a brilliant 54.

The school boys bravely responded through Saloce Mahommad and Scresht Annaderaran who scored 27 each.However, they fell short of the opposition's score by 18 runs. Arvind Murali (2-26) finished with best bowling figures for Chennai Boyz.

In a do or die game, Lobatse started well with Abdullah Malek getting 35 and Javed Malek getting 29.

After a mid-order collapse, some hitting at the end took the Lobatse score to 146-8 in 20 overs. Promod Manjare with 3-22 was outstanding for Spicy. Nagpal (32), lost its way under some tight fielding by Lobatse.

Manjare's run marked the beginning of a collapse which sent Spicy reeling at 83 all out. Abdullah Malek finished with 3-19 and was Lobatse's star performer for the day.

As the nation prepares itself for a wonderful Independence Day holiday on Thursday, the cricket loving fraternity of Gaborone eagerly awaits to enjoy the power-packed weekend of its T20 cricket.