“Once again the tour to Malta was very enjoyable. Glorious weather, great hospitality and two cracking games of cricket. All in all, a great few days with the lads in the sun, a few beers and a great time had by all the touring party.”
Marsa v Leo CC
T20 – Friday 18 September:
In Friday’s T20, Leo faced a Marsa Representative team containing seven of the current Malta international squad. Fielding first, a spirited display by Leo saw them take the upper hand in the first hour as Marsa were restricted to 69 runs for 6 wickets off 13 overs. Sam Aquilina (27 runs) and Malcolm Crabbe (21 runs) were the main top order contributors. Frank Spiteri and Andrew Naudi saved the home team’s blushes with some sensible strokeplay (50 run partnership off 30 balls) and Bikram Arora’s 16 runs took Marsa to the tally of 146 off their allotted 20 overs. Mitush Soni was the pick of the Leo bowlers with 2 wickets for 18 from his 4 overs.
Leo’s chase started dramatically with David Marks taking a superb catch off his own bowling to dismiss Sachin Patel. The Marsa attack lacked potency again and a partnership of 61 runs between Santosh Patel (35 runs) and Krishnan Patel seemed to sway the game in Leo’s favour. With only 15 runs required in the final 3 overs, Spiteri took the ball and brought in the field to restrict any easy runs. Haroon Majeed took a wonderful one-handed catch at the bowlers end after Arora had parried a well struck drive from Bhavesh Patel. In a blink of an eye, four wickets had fallen and a run out (Aquilina / Spiteri) on the final ball sealed a tie in what was a fair result for both teams.
Spiteri and Majeed took the bowling honours with 2 wickets each (for 10 and 27 runs respectively).
It was one of the most exciting finishes at the Marsa and an ideal way to start the 4-day cricket festival.
Leo’s man of the series Santosh Patel
Leo CC v Mawdesley
30 overs – Monday 21 September:
On Monday, Mawdesley defeated Leo CC in a one-sided match, largely thanks to another steady performance from their top order (Ward (43), Whiteley (42) and Lyon (57). Their imposing tally of 213 was a big ask for Leo CC and only Amit Chauhan (25) and Santosh Patel (17) reached double figures. Lyon was the major wicket-taker for Mawdesley with 3 whilst local boy Ethan Xuereb, making a guest appearance, added 2 further wickets to his first on Friday.
Leo CC in action v Mawdesley
Result: Marsa defeated Leo 1-0; Mawdesley defeated Leo CC 1-0.
Player of the Series: Santosh Patel (Leo CC).
Umpires: Les White and Allan Swift.
Scorer: Eric Balakrishnan.
Scorecards:
Game 1 – Marsa v Leo CC (T20)
Article links:
Malta Sport
Gozo News
Malta Today
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