Pearson’s brilliant batting not good enough to save Victory

Victory cricket club failed to maintain their grip on the Zaaffran & Blueberry Hotel T20 title after failing to qualify to the semi-finals on Sunday at the Kicukiro oval.

Monday, October 21, 2013
Ed Pearson scored 76 runs off 53 balls and picked 2 wickets but it wasn't enough as Victory CC bowed out. Times Sport / Courtesy

Victory cricket club failed to maintain their grip on the Zaaffran & Blueberry Hotel T20 title after failing to qualify to the semi-finals on Sunday at the Kicukiro oval. Victory CC batted first and scored 157/6 but their opponents, Kigali Cricket Club chased runs and reached the target with two wickets and one ball to spare. Ed Pearson, Victory Cricket Club’s star batsman, fired 76 runs in just 53 balls but his effort was in vain as it wasn’t enough to help his team win their second game of the tournament. Kigali cricket club captain Zeeshan Muhammed said, "It was an all round performance from all KCC players that helped us win and we’re extremely happy.” With Victory out of contention, the race remains between Challengers CC, Kerala Hunters CC and KCC, who have all won one match, to battle for the two semi-final places from group B. In group A, Indorwa CC beat Impala Titans CC by 97 runs after batting first and scoring 199/3 in the allotted 20 overs, thanks to Vicky Prajapati (80 runs) and Nayan Patel (70 runs), who made the most contributions. In reply, ITCC was bowled out for 102 in 15.4 overs. Mihir Solanki got 3 wickets for 13 runs.Impala Titans cricket club batsman Fiston Nsengiyumva, who made 24 runs said, "Chasing 199 was a huge mountain for us as our batsmen couldn’t stand Indorwa’s good bowling.” In the women’s league, Charity CC got a walk over after Kigali Angels failed to raise a full team because most of their players are students and were doing exams. The Zaaffran & Blueberry Hotel T20 continues next weekend with Indorwa CC taking on Telugu CC in Kicukiro.