Marsa CC share series with Woodlands
Last weekend, the Marsa Cricket Club welcomed Woodlands Cricket Club on their first visit to the Maltese Islands. The tourists were the 25th cricket team to visit Malta this year.
Woodlands were greeted by indifferent weather but managed three games of cricket in as many days. The tourists met Pontefract College in a T20 match on Thursday and were victorious in a very close encounter.
On Friday, Marsa batted first against Woodlands and reached an impressive target of 150 from their allotted 20 overs.
Niraj Khanna’s innings of 56 from 31 balls proved to be the difference between the two teams and he was well supported by Bikram Arora (28) and John Grima (22). For Woodlands, Chris Hickey and Paul Joanidis shared the bowling honours with 2 wickets apiece.
In reply, Woodlands found it difficult to maintain the required run-rate and finished their 20 overs on 84 runs for 7 wickets, securing a comprehensive victory for Marsa by 66 runs. Ed Manning captured 2 wickets in an impressive Marsa bowling performance.
Saturday’s 30 over match began under threatening skies. Marsa’s opening batsmen found the early going difficult with Richard King and Paul Joanidis bowling particularly well.Mark Sacco proved to be the mainstay of the Marsa innings scoring a well-earned 51 runs. Harsh Hajela compiled a useful 21 runs as Marsa finished their 30 overs on the modest total of 121 for 7.
For the visitors, Richard King, Joe Lawson and Andrew Joanidis took 2 wickets each. In reply, Joanidis (12) and Robert Smeulders (26) started solidly with 47 runs in the first 11 overs before persistent rain forced the officials to call off play.
Woodlands were victorious under the Duckworth-Lewis method by 19 runs.
Score Summaries
Fri 28 October - T20: Marsa CC 150 for 8 (N.Khanna 56*; P. Joanidis 2-16) defeated Woodlands CC 84 for 7 (C.Hickey 24; E.Manning 2-14). Player of the Match: N. Khanna (Marsa).
Sat 29 October - 30 overs: Woodlands CC 47 for 0 (R. Smeulders 26*) defeated Marsa CC 121 for 7. (M. Sacco 51; R. King 2-17, A. Joanidis 2-17). Player of the Match: A. Joanidis (Woodlands).
Umpires: Les White and Kevin Krishna
Scorer: Eric Balakrishnan
The drawn series (1-1) brought to an end the touring team season for 2016 with Marsa playing 41 matches against visiting teams and winning 17 matches along the way.
Batting Award: Sam Aquilina 379 runs; Bowling Award: Amar Gorania 23 wickets.
Fielding Award: John Grima 13 catches and 19 stumpings (24 matches).
This Saturday sees the resumption of the Malta Cricket Junior Academy at 9am.