Moufflons find form to beat Sri Lankans
A solid all-round team performance brought Moufflons a 44-run victory over Sri Lankans at Happy Valley in the only game played on 8 May. They set a challenging target by scoring 146 for 6, despite no batsman getting past 30, before bowling Sri Lankans out for 102 with a good bowling performance.
Departing from their usual tactic, Moufflons skipper Muhammad opted to bat after winning the toss. This proved to be a good move, as Mohammad Uddin and Murtaza brought up an opening partnership of fifty in the sixth over. Unusually Murtaza was outscored as Uddin raced to 30 before a wild shot ended his innings.
Murtaza (27) and Shah (19) continued the good work, and the icing on the cake came from Sohel, promoted up the order, who bashed 30 in quick time. Despite a slow finish to the innings, the total of 146 gave them a good chance to win. For Sri Lankans there were good bowling spells by Roshen (3-24) and Suresh (1-10 from 3 overs).
Murtaza (3-15) made the early breakthrough when Sri Lankans batted, taking the first three wickets, with Jeet offering good support at the other end. Then the spinners established a stranglehold on the batting, Sohel taking 1-18 from his 4 overs, and Imran continuing his excellent form with 4-14, assisted by a superb reaction catch at slip by Muhammad. The top score was 13 by Dilan and Akash, and when the last wicket fell to Hardeep’s first ball at the start of the 20th over, the Sri Lankans’ total had only just reached the century mark.
Moufflons gained 30 points for their second victory of the season, while Sri Lankans picked up 6 bonus points.
