Rochdale Premier Cricket League Round Up

Heavy snow fall could not keep the keen cricketers away from playing and watching indoor cricket, though Young Muslims pulled out of the league due to key players not available to play. They have been replaced by Jandians from Ashton.

Jandians were thrown into deep end playing their first match of the day against Baba XI. Jandians won the toss and put Baba XI in to bat. A disappointing start from Baba XI saw them lose two wickets in first over of the match for only 7 runs. Despite a gritty effort from their Captain Shahid 29 runs (not out) none of the other batsmen get into double figures due to the good bowling attack of Jandians.

Baba XI managed to score 72 runs in their allotted overs.

In response, Jandians started confidently and won the match with two overs to spare. Excellent batting from Usman 24 runs (not out), Junaid 18 runs (not out) and Zulqernain 11 runs (not out).

Bilal Khusnood of Jandians was declared man of the match for his excellent two overs, 3 wickets for 13 runs.

Second game of the day was between Unique and Lahore Green. Unique won the toss and elected to bat. Very good start from their openers Asif 13 runs and Gufran 31 runs (not out) and then consolidated by Afridi 17 runs and Mo 20 runs (not out). Unique scored 124 runs in their inning.

A poor response from Lahore Green, saw them lose three of their batsmen in first three overs with 35 runs on the board. Tariq played an excellent inning of 40 runs. None of the other batsman survived against the good bowling of Unique and they lost the match by 30 runs.

Mo was man of the match for his 20 runs (not out) and 2 wickets for 15 runs.

Stoney Stars and Max XI - a battle between the top two teams, as both teams are on 10 points from their 6 games. Max XI won the toss and elected to bat. Max XI lost both of their openers in the first over of the match. But their middle order batsman steady the ship and played sensible innings, Sultan scored 23 runs, Zohaib scoring 22 runs (not out) and Zahir 10 runs. Max XI managed to score 100 runs.

Shaky start from Stoney Stars, losing both of their openers in first 2 overs with 11 runs on the score board. In the next two overs they lost two more wickets Captain Shakir 4 runs and Wasim 7 runs. But good partnership between Saif 13 runs and Sajid 45 runs gave them hope to win the game. Stoney Stars needed 9 runs to win in the last over when Sajid was run out by the bowler as he left the crease before even bowler bowl the ball. This incident caused the controversy between the umpire and Stoney Stars players. Stoney Stars Captain Shakir called his player out and forfeited the match. Max XI was awarded the match and 2 points.

Zohaib was given man of the match award for his 22 runs (not out) and 1 wicket for 6 runs.

Suli XI and Rochdalians - Rochdalians won the toss and elected to bat. Their top three batsmen: Faisal 30 runs (not out), Hamid 30 runs (not out) and Khan 32 runs (not out), gave them an excellent start. Rochdalians made 147 runs in their 8 overs. An excellent performance from Rochdalians.

Suli XI lost their opener in the first over of the match. Despite a very good effort from Tipu 32 runs (not out) and Aqeel 26 runs Suli XI lost the match by 51 runs.

Khan picked up man of the match award for his 32 runs (not out) and excellent bowling 2 wickets for 10 runs.

RYCC and All Stars was a crucial match for both of the teams. A win for RYCC meant that they would keep their top place along side with Max XI and win for All Stars would keep their hope alive for the title race. All Stars won the toss and elected to bat. An excellent start for All Stars openers Abdul 31 runs (not out) and Bukhari 25 runs. Good late hitting by Asif 27 runs and Imran 12 runs. Poor bowling from RYCC bowlers allowed All Stars to score 135 runs in their 8 overs.

In response a very good start by RYCC. An excellent batting performance from their top 3 players, Iqbal 30 runs (not out), Naeem 20 runs and Shakeel 19 runs. Again very poor bowling performance from All Stars bowlers giving away 53 extras allowed RYCC to win this match very comfortably with 3 wickets and 11 balls to spare.

Iqbal was declared man of the match for his 30 runs.