New-look Moufflons make strong start to T20 campaign

By Richard Boxall

This week’s matches in the Autumn 2024 BAOFinancial T20 Cup presented by HurryCurry saw convincing wins for established teams Moufflons and Black Caps, but defeats for two new teams, Gujrat Lions and Rhinos.

Moufflons 202-5 beat Limassol Zalmi 156 by 46 runs

A Moufflons team almost completely changed from last season, and now under the captaincy of long-serving all-rounder Lakhwinder Singh, got their season off to a great start with a big win over Limassol rivals Zalmi.

Lakwinder scored 25 in an opening partnership of 94 with Roman Mazumder, who went on to make 89 from 50 balls, with 6 sixes and 7 fours. Sujith Thennakoon (31) and Rasedul Hasan (26 not out) also contributed to a strong total of 202-5.

In reply Salman Khan hit 63 with 6 sixes and 4 fours, and Nveed Ahmad made 32, but Zalmi were dismissed in the 19th over for 156.

Napa Kings 130-7 beat Gujrat Lions 129-7 by 3 wickets

In the day’s closest match Gujrat Lions, a new team making their first appearance, made Napa Kings fight all the way for victory. Muhammad Qasim top-scored with 36 out of a decent total of 129-7, while Manzoor Ali took 3-16 for the Kings.

The Napa side began well in reply, with a 73-run partnership for the first wicket between Mohamad Ikram (41) and Qareeb Amarkhil (30), but once they were parted wickets fell regularly, with Gurtej Singh taking 3-20.

At 118-7 Napa Kings still needed 12 runs from 14 balls with only three wickets left, but there was no further loss and they reached their target with 9 balls to spare.

Black Caps 83-2 beat Punjabi Kings 81 by 8 wickets

Punjabi Kings struggled against the Black Caps attack, slipping to 48-9 before a 33-run last wicket stand between Sarbjeet Singh and Akashdeep Singh gave the score some respectability. Caps’ skipper Rajwinder Brar took 3-20 and Karan Singh had figures of 2-2 from 3 overs.

Bhupinder Singh’s 35 not out led the Caps to a comfortable win in the 11th over.

Sri Lanka Lions 83-3 beat Rhinos 82 by 7 wickets

Rhinos, another new team in the league this season, found the Sri Lankan Lions bowling attack very difficult to score off and managed only 82, with their captain Arjun Shahi making the top score of 23. The Lions bowlers shared the wickets, with Srinath Rajith producing the best figures of 3-11 from 3 overs.

Akila De Silva and skipper Nalin Pathirana put on 54 for the Lions’ first wicket, and although Bhuwan Khatri took 3-20, the Sri Lankan team reached their victory target in the 11th over.