National Team Trounces Malawi to Keep Winning Momentum

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Suleiman Jongo

16 May 2011

Benoni — A small crowd of Tanzanians that turned up here went wild yesterday after the national cricket team hit Malawi by 106 runs in the ICC-Africa World League Division 2 at Sahara Park Willowmoore.

It was their second straight victory after getting off to a flying start on Sunday when they outclassed Rwanda by 67 runs.The national team, in their quest to qualify for the T20 World League, won the toss and elected to bat first to garner 160 runs.

Malawi chased the score during their turn, but could not match it following their 54 runs all out, which gave Tanzania another crucial win.Batsmen Seif Khalifa and Enjo Sethi were unstoppable after putting in sterling displays in their inning to earn Tanzania a tremendous psychological boost.

Kassim Nassoro emerged the top scorer with 42 runs while Abhik Patwa took 32 to improve Tanzania chances of sailing through to the next stage. It was also a milestone for the national team’s inspirational bowler, Khalil Rehemtullah, who hit three wickets and nine runs, a rare score in cricket.

Malawi, who lost to Nigeria on Saturday in 16 overs, saw their spinners falter, something that gave the Tanzanian side room to accumulate more runs. The Tanzanians were looking wary after the national team skipper Hamis Abdallah was caught in the 16th over with only 10 minutes to time. Issa Kikasi and Khalil Rehemtullah were also caught in the 143 runs and who went out in 158 runs before the end of the first inning.

“We paid the price for underrating the Tanzanians, but we had all it takes to win this battle”, said Malawi coach Vivele Ganesan.He added: “We have already leant a lesson and we’ll make sure that we win the remaining matches. “

Tanzania coach Zulfikar Rehemtullah said he was delighted with the victory and urged his players to maintain the momentum.

AllAfrica – All the Time