SACA 2ND XI ROUND OFF FANTASTIC WEEK WITH TRIO OF VICTORIES

·       SACA 2ND XI v OXFORDSHIRE (50-OVER) – SACA WON BY 5 WICKETS

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·       SACA 2ND XI v CARDIFF UCCE (T20) – SACA WON BY 3 WICKETS

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·       SACA 2ND XI v CARDIFF UCCE (T20) – SACA WON BY 9 RUNS

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Having taken charge of SACA’s Second Eleven this season – the first year that SACA has fielded a 2^nd XI, Second Eleven Head Coach Adeel Shafique will have been delighted with his side’s work this week, as they secured three victories in three white-ball games.

On Sunday 26^th April at the picturesque surroundings of Wormsley Cricket Ground on the Wormsley Estate in Oxfordshire, SACA’s second eleven secured a comprehensive five wicket win against a strong national county side, Oxfordshire CCC.

Batting first, having won the toss, Oxfordshire lost wickets regularly throughout their innings and never found the significant partnership that would help them post a competitive total, as two wickets apiece for Khalid Hamidi, Yuuresh Malhotra and Samarjeet Singh did most of the damage as the national county were bowled out inside 39 overs for 190.

In reply, a top score of 42* from Mehrab Khan, 39 from Omar Akram, 36 from Rishan Herath and 26 from Gennaro Reddy were the main contributions for SACA, who reached their victory target with over 5 overs to spare to secure an impressive 5 wicket win.

Today, the side were back in action again, with two T20 fixtures on the cards against the students of Cardiff UCCE, both played at Newport Cricket Club.

The first game, which got underway at 11am saw Cardiff UCCE win the toss and elect to bat first under glorious bright blue skies, however four wickets for Kaif Ramzan and three for Samarjeet Singh saw the University side knocked over in just 15.5 overs, having posted a total of 101.

Despite the low target, SACA were made to work hard in reply, and they eventually got to the victory line seven wickets down, in the sixteenth over of the chase, to secure a well-earned three wicket victory.

Top scoring for SACA was Aum Raykar, with a quickfire 36 off just 21 balls, with solid support coming from Mehrab Khan, who chipped in with an important 17 from 26 balls as wickets fell around him.

Game two, starting at 2.30pm, saw SACA skipper Sami Khan win the toss and elect to bat first, and his side, much like Cardiff in the first game, were bowled out inside their allotted 20 overs.

Top scoring for SACA was opener Gennaro Reddy, with a fine 47 from 30 balls, with great support coming from Amir Khan (35 from 25), Mehrab Khan (21 from 17), Qundeel Haider (17 from 11) and Sami Khan (17 from 19) – all which helped SACA post a competitive total of 155 from 19.3 overs.

Chasing 156 for victory, Cardiff fell ten runs short of their target, managing to post just 146 for 8 in reply, despite a late rally down the order that kept them in the hunt until the very end.

Pick of the SACA bowlers were Kaif Ramzan, who bowled superbly to return figures of 3 for 6 from 4 overs and Rayyan Khan, with figures of 2 for 34.

Today’s double over the University students capped a fine week for SACA, whose first eleven turned over Somerset by 41 runs at Moseley over three days, securing back-to-back wins against county opponents.

SACA 2^ND XI HIGHLIGHTS FROM OXFORDSHIRE AND CARDIFF MATCHES

Batting:                                                                        

Gennaro Reddy            47 (30)

Mehrab Khan                 42* (67)                           

Omar Akram                  39 (67)              

Rishan Herath               36* (28)            

Aum Raykar                   36 (21) 

Amir Khan                       35 (25) 

Bowling:

Kaif Ramzan                  3.5-0-10-4

Kaif Ramzan                  4-1-6-3

Samarjeet Singh          3-0-5-3