Merwais Nika Regional 3-Day Trophy Update

Both of this round’s matches ended in high scoring draws.

 

In the featured match between Mis Ainak and Boost, a century from Sediqallah Pacha got Mis Ainak to 460 at the point of their 70 overs; the highest of the tournament so far. From there on in it was always petering out to a draw. Sediqallah’s 132 from 159 balls was the highest total of the round and the third highest in the competition so far.

 

In the other game, Band-e-Amir will be the team that will be most put out at the draw as they excelled with both the bat and ball but Amo managed to hold on by the skin of their teeth. Asif Musazai got figures of 4-39 in the first innings, the fourth highest total so far in the tournament. He is having an outstanding tournament as he also scored 75 in the final innings to continue his fine spell of run scoring. He now has 356 runs in three games, 19 more than anyone else.

 

The draws most obviously effect leaders Speen Ghar who could extend their lead on Monday against Band-e-Amir.

Merwais Nika Regional 3-Day Trophy Featured Match Update

 

Jawid Sulimankhil got himself to the edge of a century and his team to near parity with Mis Ainak’s first innings total of 308. He was the second to last man out for Boost, throwing his wicket away with a run out as the 70 over mark loomed large.

 

Mis Ainak went to stumps on the penultimate day on 199-2. Some quick scoring will have to ensue tomorrow for them to force their agenda.

Merwais Nika Regional 3-Day Trophy Featured Match Update

 

This week’s featured Merwais Nika Regional 3-Day Trophy game sees two winless teams pitting off against each other in the forms of Mis Ainak and Boost Regions.

Mis Ainak won the toss and elected to bat first – a decision which they were probably pleased with by the end of their first innings as they were 308-8 after their 70 overs. This was largely thanks to a century from Rahman Zurmatia who got a slow and steady 108 off 129.

 

Things were looking even brighter for Mis Ainak when they managed to get 4 Boost wickets in the 30 overs of the reply who closed the day on 89-4.

Australia A Tour of Sri Lanka Update

 The A team series between Sri Lanka and Australia looks to be an opportunity for some failing ex-internationals to reassert their claims rather than a breeding ground for youth. 

This is best seen by the match winning performance that Cameron Green put in today. A veteran of 17 International caps across all three formats, Green has only recently been out of the frame for the full national team. His 111 ball 119 in Australia Australia chase of 297 would have maybe edged him a bit closer to that frame once more. 

This theme of experienced players forcing their agenda was continued across the board with Matt Renshaw (11 Tests) and Dhananjaya de Silva (121 national appearances!!!) also excelling with the bat.

Merwais Nika Regional 3-Day Trophy

 

The Merwais Nika Regional 3-Day Trophy started last week and completed it’s second found of fixtures today. So far it is a two horse race between Speen Ghar and Band-e-Amir Regions as to who has impressed the most.

Speen Ghar were 6 wicket winners today against Amo Region. Adding  this to their victory against Mis Ainak last week they have started the tournament in fine fettle. They have displayed their all round credentials as Bilal Sayedi’s 198 with the bat last week is the highest individual total and made up the highest total of the tournament so far – 381-6. They also have the highest wicket taker in the tournament in the form of Farhad Momand who has 13 @ 2-.92.

 

Band-e-Amir have also impressed. Asif Musazai had a fine outing for them in this week’s fixture as he scored 96 in the first innings and 111 in the second as they ran out winners against Mis Ainak. His 263 is the highest of any player. In Parvez Amin, they also have the best bowling figures in an innings – 6- 58.

 

Namibia Tour Of Hong Kong

 On paper Namibia's tour to Hong Kong should be something of a cake walk for the Namibians. The visitors sit 17th on the ODI rankings whilst Hong Kong do not even have that status yet. Furthermore Namibia didn't so much as hold their own in the World Cup....but they didn't sink as badly as they might. 

One of the stars of their World Cup campaign was the main architect of today's opening win. The spectacularly named Ruben Trumplemann plagued Hong Kong throughout their, already challenging, chase of 308. He got the first wicket with a mere 15 runs on the board, came back in his second spell to bag his brace and then finished off with 2 wickets in the death overs to polish Hong Kong off.

Unlike most tours of this nature, the games are rather spread out with the second on Thursday and the final a week from today. 

Sri Lanka Major Clubs T20 Tournament Update

 

A lot to report from today’s matches with honours with big performances all over the shop.

 

It has not been a batsmen’s tournament thus far – and this was seen in the game between the Sri Lankan Army and Moors. Despite the fact that Moors, Chataranga de Silva got the highest score so far this week (61) his team still ran out as the losers. It perhaps speaks to the low scoring nature of this tournament that Chataranga’s score of 61 is just the 8^th highest score overall. Sri Lanka Army are the last undefeated team standing – however three of their games have been washed out.

In another game where ball dominated bat, Badureliya got absolutely trounced by Ace Capital. After Ace had put 181 on the board in the first innings, they then went on to limit Badureliya to a mere 89. The 92 run victory is the largest margin of victory so far in the tournament. Chanika Devinda’s 3-12 was both the best figures in the match but also saw him take overall lead on the wicket taking charts.

 

Despite Devinda’s heroics, he did not have the best figures of the day. That honour goes to Hareena Buddila whose 4-12 helped Galle beat the Sri Lankan Army.

 

Despite Sinhalese’s game being washed out on Monday, Sheevon Daniel is still the highest run scorer.