RCA crowned champions of 1st MNCA U-23 Men's Haobam Biramangol Singh Memorial Tournament

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jun 26 : Muhammad Ali Karim's half century for KASC went in vain as RCA withstood pressure to reach a modest target of 142 runs with five wickets left to spare and deservingly seal the title of the 1st MNCA U-23 Men's H Biramangol Singh Memorial Tournament 2023-24 organised by the Manipur Cricket Association.
KASC, who won the toss and opted to bat first here at Model Higher Secondary School and Oriental College playground, had cautious start to their innings but were dismissed for 141 runs in 37.2 overs with RCA bowlers putting in a concerted effort. RCA then chased down the target in 31.4 overs thanks to Zamir Khan's sensible knock of 41 off 58 balls, and notable contributions from Imran Khan (24 off 71 balls), Aziz Mirza (25 off 17 balls) and Syed Hussain (15 not out off 17 balls).
Md Ali Karim topscored with a painstakingly slow 105-ball 58 for KASC having forged an opening partnership of 59 runs with Md Sharif Khan who was dismissed by Naesh Hussain for 19 runs. Md Aqeel 16 and Afjal Khan 13 also scored double digit figures for the Khomidok team in an innings that saw medium pacer Md Danish Khan of RCA return with the best figures of 3/32 in 7.2 overs .
Medium pacer Aziz Mirza (2/20 in 8 overs) meanwhile picked two crucial wickets including Md Ali Karim for the 8th wicket that proved to be the turning point of KASC innings. Off break bowler Naesh Hussain (2/31 in 8 overs) also enjoyed a two wicket haul in this innings as Zamir Khan picked one.
Chasing 142 for the win, RCA had a slow start and gathered 28 for no loss till the first powerplay (8 overs) but were reduced to 62/2 after 12.1 overs as Fm Sharif trapped Alfas lbw on 8 in the 9th over and caught and bowled Aziz Mirza in the 13th over.
Zamir Khan and Imran Khan however produced a 42 run partnership for the third wicket and kept RCA hopes alive. After taking the team past the 100 run mark, Imran Khan was trapped lbw by Md Aqeel for the third wicket in the 27th over before Zamir Khan holed out to Md Babu off the bowling of BM Afsar in the 31st over for the fourth wicket as the scoreboard read 134. Incoming Md Danish Khan was dismissed for a duck by Bm Afsar. Syed Hussain made an unbeaten 15 off 17 balls to make sure that RCA reached the target with five wickets left in hand.
Bm Afsar returned with the best bowling figures of 2/27 for KASC as Fm Sharif finished with 2/25 and Md Aqeel managed 1/41.
Winners RCA were feted with a cash prize of Rs 70,000 and a trophy as the runners up KASC had to contend with Rs 40,000 and a trophy.
Aziz Mirza who starred with both the bat and ball was adjudged man of the match and feted a cash prize of Rs 2,000 and a trophy while his compatriot Naesh Hussain was adjudged man of the series as well as highest wicket taker (109 runs in 6 innings and 20 wickets in 8 innings) and feted with cash prizes of Rs 7,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively along with trophies.
N Basant of SCCC, meanwhile, emerged highest run getter and received a cash prize of Rs 3,000 as he amassed 391 runs in 6 innings.