Sri Lankans v Epi Lions
In the semifinal played at Happy
Valley, Sri Lankans registered a 5 wickets win over Epi Lions.
Sri Lankans after winning the
toss, decided to field first. Epi Lions opened the batting with Gould and Chris Wood and both were soon removed by the accurate Sri Lankan attack bowlers. Captain Baig and Fahad tried
to stabilize the innings, however, Sri Lankan bowlers always maintained a stranglehold over the Epi Lions batsmen. The wicket of Fahad (14) in the 14th over to Chandana brought Davies to the
crease, and an attacking debut innings of 15 was brought to end by the off spin of Akash. Graeme Cleave, coming in at No 6 didn’t last long and once captain Baig (24) departed in the 24th
over to Ajit – who claimed another 2 wickets in the same over – it was nearly all over for Epi Lions. However, Alaudin (19) and Richard Crossley (12) batted together for 10 overs to put on a
partnership of 33 runs, as Epi Lions finished on 126 in the 36th over.
Sri Lankans, reply didn’t started
as planned as Richard Crossley, removed Akash in the second over of the innings. A partnership of 40 runs between Wellage (15) and Ajit (15) was brought to an end by an excellent catch by
Chris Wood on the Long On boundary off the bowling of Richard Crossley. Ajit followed the next ball, LBW to Crossley and Sri Lankans were in trouble with the score at 43 and 3 wickets down.
Captain Baig, capitalized on the situation and removed Nalin in the following over and Richard Crossley got his 4th wicket in the following over to leave Sri Lankans wobbling at 49/5 in the
10th over. This brought together captain Mangala (34*) and Sarsha (35*) on the crease and the two batsmen counter attacked the Epi Lions bowlers and powered their way to the final in an
unbeaten partnership of 80 runs in 9 overs.
The game was played in excellent
spirit by the two teams. Sri Lankans will now play the final against the Kazepis on Nov 20, 2016 at Lakatamia, Nicosia.
Kazepis v Nicosia Tigers
The other semi final, played at Lakatamia Stadium in Nicosia, turned on an excellent century partnership between Manan and Changaiz, and a host of dropped catches by the Tigers.
Tigers have done well to reach the semi final stage in their first CCA competition, and arrived early and ready for action. By contrast, Kazepis, who have had much success over recent
seasons, barely had enough men present to start the match - a disappointing effort.
Tigers won the toss and elected to field, and were soon on top thanks to fine bowling by Tiwary, who claimed 4 for 26 from his 8 overs. As so often, Kazepis had to recover from a dire
position, and did so. Their saviours were Manan and Changaiz who came together at 65 for 5 and took the game away from Tigers with a vital partnership. Changaiz was the more aggressive and
first to his fifty, but both men played well and saved their team from the threat of defeat.
Tigers did not help themselves by dropping many chances, including both of the fifty-makers, Tiwary and Tomal being the bowlers to suffer the most bad luck.
A score of 217 looked likely to be enough, but Tigers started their reply well, reached 55 for 2 from the first 10 overs, with Tiwary and Sahin going well. However, from 80 for 2 they
collapsed, losing 7 wickets for just 34 runs, before a spirited last wicket stand of 25 by Tomal and Rahat gave them respectability.
Tiwary with 44 runs plus 4 wickets was their outstanding player on the day, but he was outshone by Changaiz, with 58 and a brilliant one-handed catch in the gully, and by Manan who hit 54 and
then bowled full and straight to claim 4 for 29 off 8 overs.
A good effort by Tigers, spoiled by their catching, but it is Kazepis who go forward into the final.
