Mpingwe Orange win OG Plastics Cricket

MSC Orange needed a super over tie-breaker win to defeat MSC Silver and claim the inaugural K800 000 (about $2 666) OG Plastics 25 Overs Championship on Sunday at the Mpingwe Sports Club (MSC).

It was a first tie-break super over decider to be used in a local tournament after the two teams were tied at 154 runs.

Led by Player of the Tournament, Arsif Rustuf, Silver made 154 overs in the first inning of 25 overs and their counterparts needing 155 runs to win, could only match the 154 runs in the second innings.

This forced the match into sudden death of a super over decider of six balls. Orange batted first and managed 16 runs, giving Silver a task of 17 runs to win. But Silver could only manager 14 runs, making Orange the champions.

“It was a tough match. Going into sudden death proves how difficult it was. But we are happy to have won. We thank the players and, of course, our best bowler Faan Wadja. He was just on top of his game and won us the match,” said Orange captain Khalid Badat.

His counterpart Saeed Lindawala was proud of his boys for forcing the game into sudden death against Orange, whom he described as the best team in the country.

“Normally, games against them take only 20 minutes or so to end, but we forced them to over an hour’s play and then end up in a tie. To us, that is an achievement,” said Lindawala.

Earlier in the day, Orange defeated Indian Sports Club by 151 runs to 99 whereas Silver defeated Gold in the semi-finals.

OG Issa Plastics managing director Jagot Wahab said, as sponsors, they were impressed with the competition and promised to come back next year.

“OG Issa is committed to developing sports in the country. We sponsor netball, football and now we are in cricket. Next year, we plan to sponsor other minor sporting disciplines while continuing the current sponsorships,” said Wahab.

Southern Region Cricket League chairperson Shiraz Zaveri thanked OG Issa for the sponsorship.