Rain spoils OG Plastics Cricket semi-finals

Arsif Rustam made a commanding contribution of 138 runs on Sunday to set MSC Silver on path to an OG Plastic 25-Overs Tournament’s semi-final success over MSC Gold Fattani at Mpingwe Sports Club (MSC).

However, a downpour towards the final whistle spoiled everything and the match will have to start afresh next weekend.

MSC Silver had already finalised their batting in the first innings, where they made 228 runs and had claimed three wickets through Irsan Pathan, when the rains ravaged the cricket field in the eighth over. Then, MSC Gold Fattani had made a meagre 30 runs and claimed a wicket.

Rustam leads the race for the best batsman of the competition with over 200 runs.

On the same day, Indian Sports Club (ISC) team was expected to host MSC Orange in the other semi-final.

“The rains have denied us an easy semi-final victory. However, there is nothing we can do, rather than start afresh our hunt for a slot in the finals. We are more than confident that we will still win next Sunday,” said MSC Silver captain Saeed Limdawala.

According to the Southern Region Cricket League (SRCL) chairperson Shiraz Zaveri, the rains have forced them to hold both the semi-finals and the finals on the same day next Sunday.

“ISC will host MSC Orange while MSC Silver will take on MSC Gold Fattani at MSC on Sunday morning. The winners will tussle for the crown in the afternoon,” said Zaveri.