The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Suleiman Jongo
19 May 2011
Benoni — A day after the national cricket team suffered a shock defeat to less-fancied opponents, Sierra Leone; they managed to reorganise on Wednesday and bounce back in style.The team, skippered by batsman Hamis Abdallah, played their hearts out to vanquish Ghana by 22 runs, a victory that revived their hopes of finishing atop.
However, they were yesterday facing a daunting task to shove off Botswana and Nigeria, who were also favourites to claim the first two spots.Two teams that will finish top will sail through to the next stage slatted for Nairobi.
As of yesterday, Nigeria were leading the nine-team event with 12 points having played seven games followed by Tanzania and Botswana who were tying at 10 points after six outings.In the Wednesday match, Tanzania won the toss and elected to bat first to garner 104 runs with the loss of seven wickets.
Ghana, hoping to surpass the runs scored by the Tanzanians, tired hard to chase the score, but they ended up with 82 runs.The West Africans looked fearsome with their batting skills, thanks to some sublime catches from the national team cricketers, which dashed Ghana’s hopes.
Batsman Abhik Patwa, who plies his trade in the UK, was the hero for Tanzania in the Wednesday match after scoring 43 runs. Tanzania head coach Zulfikar Rehemtullah showered praise on his side saying they showed their mettle against Ghana.
“It was a difficult game because Ghana are not pushovers, but my lads followed my instructions and finally walked away with all points,” said the coach, who is also Tanzania Cricket Association chief executive officer.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Taken from:
Cricket Team At the Mercy of Favourites