Malo (MAL), the most successful Portuguese club in ECN history, made their mark again in Portugal, adding the FanCode ECS Portugal Cartaxo silverware to their already bulging trophy cabinet after winning European Cricket Series Cartaxo 2020 and FanCode Portugal T10 2021 titles as well.
Malo, who had also led the way in the group stages with four wins and two losses, edged past impressive newcomers Fighters CC who fought all the way on debut.
Batting first, Malo put on 133/5 in 10 overs after a half-century from Syed Maisam and a quickfire 33 from Amir Zaib. Imran Rao's scintillating fifty and Deepu Mansurpuria's 44 kept Fighters CC in the hunt in the run-chase, but the pair’s dismissal from back-to-back deliveries in the penultimate over bowled by Najam Shahzad turned the game significantly. Although 13 runs came off the final over, FIG fell an agonising four runs short.
Earlier on finals day, MAL beat Gorkha 11 in the first semi-final while FIG beat Oeiras in the second semi-final to make it to the showcase Final.