-Telugu CC, 222/10 in 45.5 overs-Right Guards CC, 82/10 in 24.1 oversTelugu won by 140 runs

Telugu Cricket Club defeated Right Guard Cricket Club by 140 runs in the semi-final to book a final date with Indorwa in the UAE-Exchange 50-over Premier League.

The defending champions won the toss and opted to bat fast, putting on 222 runs all out in 45.5 overs in a game played on Sunday at the newly inaugurated Kicukiro cricket ground.

Jyothi Basu Ravula led Telugu’s top scoring with 63 runs, including four boundaries from 121 balls before being bowled out by Freedy Ndayisanga while S. Reddy had 25 runs, including four 4s off 32 balls and Aziz James contributed 22 runs from 30 balls.

Ivan Mitali (19 runs off 24 balls), Pankaj Vekaria (16 runs from 17 balls) and Samba Shiva (14 runs off 25 balls), were the other significant contributors to Telugu’s victory.

Right-arm fast bowler Ndayisenga finished with figures of five wickets for 44 runs in 10 overs, while O. Martin took three wickets for 31 runs in 7.5 overs. Guards’ bowlers gave away 41 runs in extras.

In reply, the Right Guards could only manage 82 runs all out in 24 overs—only O. Martin, with 39 runs from 62 balls, scored in double figures and Ndayisenga was their second-highest scorer with 9 runs from 19 balls. Ivan Mitali took three wickets for 20 runs in six overs.

In the semi-final, Indorwa defeated Challengers after putting on 174 runs in 44.3 overs in the first inning; however, the game was halted when the pitch roller machine got stuck on pitch prompting match umpires to call for a bowl-out to decide the winner. Indorwa hit 2 stumps against Challengers’ 1.

Bolwer Ruchir Kohle had top scored for Indorwa with 37 runs including one 4 and a six from 52 balls before being bowled by Srinath Vardhineni. Patel Nayan had 32 runs out of 56 balls), while Bhavesh Jani contributed 23 runs out of 37 balls.

Tegulu Rayol won the UAE Exchange league last year after beating Indorwa by 59 runs in the final. The 2017 final be will be played on Saturday at Gahanga Cricket Oval.

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