KOC Cricket Committee (KOCCC) Organized Leather Ball Cricket Tournament (T-20) For Corporate Teams at KOC Cricket Ground-Ahmadi which were officiated by Kuwait Cricket Club Umpires & Scorers.
KOC Cricket Committee is headed by Mr. Fahad Al Bastaki (Chairman) and comprises of Mr. Anil Kumar (General Secretary), Mr. Iqbal Pewekar (Treasurer) and committee members Mr. Mukesh Mohammed, Mr. Ajay Sharma, Mr. Rajeev Sachwani & Mr. Chirag Dhandhukiya.
The tournament had 8 Teams participating (KOC, Halliburton, KDC, Heston, Napesco, SBC, Vaigai U-19 & Almeer) and were played on Fridays. The teams were divided into Group-A (KOC, KDC, Almeer & SBC) & Group-B (Halliburton, Heston, Napesco & Vaigai U-19). Each team played 3 League matches and top 2 teams from each group qualified for the Semi-Finals. Almeer & KOC were the table toppers of Group-A, whereas Heston & Vaigai U-19 were the table toppers of Group-B.
Semi-Finals were played between the 4 qualified teams KOC & Almeer qualified for the Grand Finale which was played between on 20 May’23 under lights and had Live Scoring & Streaming. Around 200+ people consisting of family members, friends and well-wishers had attended the Grand Finale.
Almeer won the toss and chose to bat first. KOC bowled brilliantly bagging early wickets during the power play and restricting Almeer to 42/3 at the end of the power play. A solid partnership of 62 runs between Mr. Melvin Valantine & Mr. Bikash Kumar held the innings for Almeer. However Almeer went from 104/4 in 13.0 overs to 117/9 in 16.4 overs loosing 5 wickets very fast.
An excellent spell by KOC restricted any chances of Almeer putting a higher total on the board. Mr. Kamlesh Mahalingam scored 21 runs in 16 balls with 2 boundaries & held his nerve during the last wicket partnership, with which Almeer managed to put 138/10 in 19.5 overs. Mr. Melvin Valantine scored 37 runs in 26 balls with 3 sixes and Mr. Manikandan Manavalan scored 27 runs in 15 balls with 4 boundaries & 1 six. Mr. Mukesh Mohammed (KOC’s Captain) bagged 3 wickets in 3.5 overs giving away only 18 runs and restricted Almeer from getting a higher score.
In reply KOC lost early wickets and were 39/4 at the end of power play. Mr. Vignesh Gopalan broke inroads during the power play and got their top order collapsing. Mr. Ajay Sharma scored a brilliant 28* in 30 balls with 3 boundaries and Mr. Rajeev Sachwani scored 17 in 22 balls with 1 boundary. KOC managed to score 119/9 in 20 overs.
Mr. Vignesh Gopalan was adjourned “Man Of The Match” for his brilliant spell of 4 Overs-0 Maidens-12 Runs-3 Wickets.
The Final Presentation Ceremony was carried out by KOCCC members and the Trophies were handed over by Mr. Fahad Bastaki (KOC), Mr. Anil Kumar (KOC), Mr. Elyas Ahmad Ali (Almeer) & Mr. Abdullah Al Sarhan (Almeer)
Below are the Individual Tournament Winners:
Man Of The Series: Mr. Bijo Philip (Almeer) (85 Runs & 5 Wickets & 3 Cathes & 1 Run-Out)
Best Batsman: Mr. Iqbal Pewekar (KOC) (152 Runs)
Best Bowler: Mr. Nilotpaul Neog (KOC) (7 Wickets)
Best Fielder: Mr. Sambasiva Rao (KOC) (8 Catches)
Tournament WINNERS: ALMEER
Tournament RUNNERS: KOC
The presentation was followed by Dinner for all attendees, players, officials & members of KOCCC.
All the participating teams enjoyed KOC Cricket Committee (KOCCC) warm hospitality throughout the tournament. It was a wonderful experience for the Corporate teams to be part of this tournament.
KOCCC has promised to organize more cricket tournaments in future for Corporate teams.