Cricket Club Panthers beat Abuja Indians to take second spot

Cricket Club Abuja Panthers (CCA) have continued their upward swing in the Iris Smart Technologies Abuja Cricket League with victory over Abuja Indians Cricket Club (AICC) in the week three of the league. The Panthers, who lost their first two games of the competition, have now moved to the second spot on the table.

Their match against the AICC was the opening game of Week Four and the CCA Panthers went about dismantling their opponents from the beginning of the game.

The AICC won the toss and opted to bat first. At the end of 20 overs, they batted 123 Runs in 20 overs for the loss of six wickets. The CCA Panthers came in the second inning to chase 123 runs and needed 124 runs to win. The CCA, which was defeated by the AICC in their opening game of the League on March 10, seemed well reinforced with three players after its first two matches. They put up another brilliant performance, which gave them 124 runs in 17.2 overs with the loss of five wickets. They thus won their second consecutive game by seven wickets.

Pankaj Thiara, who was declared man of the match, went home with a cash price of N5, 000 from Iris Smart Technologies and a 25kg bag of rice from Olam Rice.

In the second game, Abuja Pakistanis Cricket Club (APCC) continued their dominance of the game by beating Aso Rock Cricket Club (ARCC) by 72 runs.

ARCC won the toss and opted to field first. At the end of the first innings, the APCC batted 152 runs in 20 overs for the loss of seven wickets. ARCC came in the second innings to chase 152 runs and needed 153 runs to win. However that was not to be as they were stopped at 80 runs in 16.5 over for the loss of 10 wickets. The APCC won by 72 runs thus condemning to their fourth loss in the league.

Kalpa Elvis, who was named Player of the Match with four wickets and 22 runs, got N5, 000 from Iris Smart Technologies and a 25kg bag of rice by Olam Rice.

The competition continues this weekend with APCC meeting CCA Panthers in the opening game, while Aso Rock will host Abuja Indians in the second game.