Cricket crazy fans of Kuwait will now wait eagerly to watch the traditional clash of the titans match to be played between Pakistan XI & Indian XI on Friday, April 4, 2014 at 1:30 PM. In a keenly poised match played between Indian XI & Sri Lankan XI, the Indian XI held their nerves to notch a thrilling 23 runs victory over a spirited fight back from the Sri Lankan team, rightly known as Lions so as to advance to meet Pakistan in the Finals.
Batting first, the Indian XI openers Usman Patel & Alwyn D’souza played steadily and took the score to 48 and as the pair was about to settle, a sudden rush of blood saw Alwyn caught at long on. Hansen Vaz, the talented one drop bat joined Usman and the duo continued to play attacking cricket and ran some quick singles to unsettle the Sri Lankan fielder. Usman was at his very best driving and pulling with precise timing and Ansan thumped the cherry with great authority to score a valuable 23 runs before being run out. As the score read 105 for 2, Mohammed Nizar along with Usman Patel thrilled the crowd with some lusty hitting to take the Indian XI total to 199 runs in 20 overs. Mohd. Nizar’s scintillating knock of 75 (not out) contained 7 huge sixes and 2 fours and a beautifully timed on drive to the mid- wicket boundary was the shot of the day. Usman ended up with a polished 53 runs to his credit. Sasanka, Indika & Rifkas got a wicket each.
Sri Lankan team highly pumped up to outwit the rivals played enterprising cricket and gave a tough time to the Indian team as Yohan Chandana led from the front to crack a solid 58 runs with 4 sixes & 4 boundaries. Indika the hard hitting batsmen played a cameo knock of 28 runs in just 12 balls and till he was at the crease the Sri Lankans were on the brink of victory but the experienced Indian bowlers kept on applying pressure and Sri Lankan team folded for 163 runs in 20 overs. Roshan & Sajid Kalam took two wickets each while Faisal, Nawaf & Nikhil bagged a wicket each. Mohd Nisar was rightly judged Player of the match for his marvelous batting display.
The highly rated Pakistan XI notched an easy victory over Bangladesh XI and will meet Indian XI in the final to be played on April 4, 2014. Bangladesh batting first could score only 110 runs as Abdulla Khan the leg spinner bowled extremely well (4-0-9-3) to wreck the Bangladesh batting order while Raheel & Ali Zaheer took 2 wickets each. Toufique was the star batsman for Bangladesh as he fought a lone battle to score 37 runs with 3 mighty sixes. Pakistan wrapped up 111 runs in just 12 overs as Asghar & Yasser Butt flayed the Bangladesh attack, dispatching eh ball to all corners of the ground. Asghar scored 47 (6x3) while Yasser blasted a hurricane 42 in just 28 balls to claim the Player of the match award.