Article - CAPTAIN MUHAMMAD AFZAL BOWLS CRICKET SAUDI TO VICTORY IN GAME 2
View Article

CAPTAIN MUHAMMAD AFZAL BOWLS CRICKET SAUDI TO VICTORY IN GAME 2

Iqbal Choudry (UgandaCricketNationalLeagueAdmin)
31/03/2018

CAPTAIN MUHAMMAD AFZAL BOWLS CRICKET SAUDI TO VICTORY IN GAME 2

 

 
Saudi Cricket 126/10 in 40.1 overs (Sajid Imran Cheema 32(61), Abu Huraira 23(25), Bilal Hassun 4/38 in 9.2 overs, Henry Ssenyondo 3/26 in 10 overs) beat Uganda Select 114/10 in 45.2 overs (Brian Masaba 33(77), Roger Mukasa 18(33), Muhammad Afzal 3/19 in 10 overs, Imran Arif 2/24 in 10 overs, Abu Huraira 1/30 in 10 overs)
 
  • First ODI of the bilateral series.
  • Cricket Uganda won the toss and elected to field.
  • Sajid Imran and Abu Huraira revives Cricket Saudi innings after top order falters.
  • Hassun Bilal lights up tie with his pace picking 4
  • Muhammad Afzal and Imran Arif with clinical spells of spin clinch it for Cricket Saudi
 
Roger Mukasa called tails winning the toss taken at 9:30 a.m. and elected to field at Kyambogo oval. The wicket that had to be covered most of the day the previous day was providing the bowlers a lot of assistance with Charles Waiswa struggling to get control of the swing in his second over.
Fellow opening bowler Bilal Hassun however had no problems with swing or pace, bouncing opener Moazam Shaukat before rattling his timbers with a pin point Yorker that probably brushed his shoe laces.



The pace and bounce continued to trouble the top order as Inayat Saeed edged to gully without troubling the scorers.
Sajid Imran 32(61) and wicket keeper Zeeshan Butt 9(39) put on 27 for the third wicket to ward off assault and rebuild the Cricket Saudi innings.
Danger man Imran Arif fell to the left arm spin of Henry Ssenyondo but Abu Huraira 23(25) dug in for 31 with senior partner Sajid Imran to carry the score past the hundred mark.



Deus Muhumuza picked Huraira to begin the tail end collapse where Deus and Bilal wrapped up the tail end; Cricket Saudi all out for 126 in 40 overs.
Roger Mukasa 18(33) and Simon Ssessazi 15(31) looked took on the run chase balancing caution and attack for a 35 run opening stand; Roger finding the boundary twice as did fellow opener who cleared deep square leg with a huge six clearing the dressing rooms.



Simon was then needlessly stumped as he lost his footing and a ball deflecting off Zeeshan Butt dislodged the bails; Uganda then went through an early collapse of 6/1 as Hamu was run out by skipper Afzal, Roger fell LBW to the spin of Imran Arif and Shehzad Kamal was bowled by Muhammad Afzal to leave the hosts 41/4 in the 14th over with two new men at the crease.



The Innings began to take shape when Brian Masaba 33(77) caressed one past the bowler for a well-run three but Deus was caught and bowled by Imran Arif to peg back the Uganda innings; wickets continued to fall recurrently with Henry Ssenyondo 1(19), wicket keeper Fred Achelam 1(7) falling to Ihsan Ullah and the returning Abu Huraira.



In a display of much needed aggression Captain Afzal kept two slips, a gully, point and short cover throughout the Uganda run chase; allowing no room for cheeky singles or loose drives.


 
Masaba the last recognized batsman then played lynchpin with an admirable and stoic innings, grinding through the tense fall of wickets and kicking on steadily with Frank Nsubuga 12(28) who played on and later Charles Waiswa to fend of the assault of the indefatigable Abu Huraira and Muhammad Afzal who bowled tight destructive spells.



Throwing probably his last dice, Captain Afzal then called on Samiullah who picked Waiswa with the first legal delivery of the over to leave Cricket Saudi one wicket away from victory and Uganda needing 18 off 66 balls.


Usman Ali then proved the man with the magic hand as his left arm spin finally broke Brian’s long vigil to be last man out Uganda falling by 12 runs in 42 overs.
 
Game 3 to be played at Kyambogo Oval Sunda 1/04/2018 starting 10:00a.m.   
   
 
 
 

You can also enter comments by CricClubs Login

Comments: