Ultimate Fighters made to sweat for two-run victory; Transmed prevail

dubai — The ICC Academy Challengers Cup is back in action at the ICC Academy, and just like tournaments past, it has cooked up many an entertainer for cricket aficionados.

The Ultimate Fighters were made to sweat for their two-run win over Citibank (41) to record a victory, but former Bronze Division champions Coca Cola enjoyed a more leisurely match up against Evergreen (37), with the soft drink giants putting up a 28run win.

But they were unlucky to then slip up against Valtorque, whose mammoth score of 73 gave them a 37-win over Coca Cola.

It was a similar situation for The Cricketers, whose score of 43 was a bridge too far for the Gladiators (24), with the former excelling with both bat and ball.

A large margin of victory also came the way of team Transmed. Their score of 61 proved to be too tough a nut to crack for the boys from the Sandpipers (29).

It’s always nice to see new arrivals take to the field, and the presence of newcomers Arenco IT and IMG — both reputed names across the world — warmed the hearts of cricket enthusiasts.

Both teams wasted no time in getting down to business in a low scoring match. Batting first, Arenco IT could only manage 18 runs, a score IMG easily went past as they posted a total of 34.

But they weren’t the only newcomers on the night: Splash also tried to make well, a splash, on proceedings, but were unfortunate to come up against seasoned campaigners Al Naboodah in their very first match, as they fell to a 16-run defeat, having managed a score of only 34. But while many teams did enjoy their time on the pitch, it was Khaleej Times who provided an excellent all-round performance.

After their bowlers had made quick work of BAFCO, bowling them out for an astonishing -4, their batsmen got to work efficiently, posting a total of 57 runs to blow away the opposition.

Khaleej Times though are not the outright favourites for the championship: that honour goes to Danube, who recorded back-toback wins once again, confirming their status as Challengers Cup front runners.

After their 53-run win over Valtorque, who could muster just two runs from their eight overs, Evergreen were next to fall to the Danube juggernaut, as the latter could manage just 26 runs in response to Danube’s impressive total of 67.