Champions Helsinki begin 2020 Finnish Premier League campaign with dominant victory against Vantaa
In the opening game of the Finnish Premier League, Helsinki CC took on Vantaa CC at the Kerava National Cricket Ground (KNCG) in the city of Kerava, just outside Helsinki.
After Helsinki won the toss and elected to make first use of the conditions, Khalid Rahman Mangal took advantage of a bad drop early in his innings to launch the champions defence of their trophy. Hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes, Mangal smoked 44 off 30 balls at an impressive strike rate of 146.66 to smooth Helsinki’s progress towards an imposing total.
After overcoming a mini mid-overs slump, Akhil Arjunan mullered some lusty late blows with 25 off 23 balls to take the Finnish Premier League champions along to a challenging 145 off 20 overs.
Ameer Hamsa Warsha was the pick of the various Vantaa bowlers with 3-24, while Ranuka Shiran Fernando also snared three wickets, but proved more expensive with 3-31 off 3 overs.
Chasing 146, Vantaa never really got going after losing both openers early in the reply. Amrik Bhatia, in particular strangled the scoring rate with four miserly overs picking up 1-16. Zakiullah Kamal also proved very hard to get away with 2-20 off 4, finishing with identical figures as Akhil Arjunan with a veritable all-round performance. Madura Hettiarachilage top scored with 20 off 14 before an unfortunate run out – the only Vantaa batsman who managed to score at more than a run a ball.
Vantaa were well and truly vanquished, falling way short on 110-8 with Helsinki proving absolutely why they are Finnish Premier League champions with a dominant display.
Scores and Statistics ----Helsinki Cricket Club won the toss and elected to bat first ----Helsinki Cricket Club 145/9 (20 overs, RR: 7.25) ----Vantaa Cricket Club 110/8 (20 overs, RR: 5.5)
Player of the Match: Ameer Hamsa Warsha from Vantaa Cricket Club Runs: 15 | Balls: 24 | S/R: 62.5 Wickets: 3 | Runs Against: 24 | Overs: 4
Helsinki Cricket Club Top Batters
Khalid Rahman Mangal | Runs: 44 | Balls: 30 | 6s: 2 | 4s: 3 | S/R: 146.7
Akhil Arjunan | Runs: 25 | Balls: 23 | 6s: 1 | 4s: 1 | S/R: 108.7
Faheem Nellancheri | Runs: 12 | Balls: 7 | 6s: 1 | 4s: 1 | S/R: 171.4
Helsinki Cricket Club Top Bowlers Akhil Arjunan 20/2 (4 Overs, RR: 5)
Zakiullah Kamal 20/2 (4 Overs, RR: 5)
Adnan Syed 7/1 (2 Overs, RR: 3.5)
Helsinki Cricket Club Top Fielder Zakiullah Kamal | Catches and Run Outs: 1 run out
Vantaa Cricket Club Top Batters Madura Hettiarachilage | Runs: 20 | Balls: 14 | 6s: 2 | S/R: 142.9 Manoj Mahamada | Runs: 15 | Balls: 15 | 6s: 1 | S/R: 100
Ameer Hamsa Warsha | Runs: 15 | Balls: 24 | 6s: | 4s: | S/R: 62.5
Vantaa Cricket Club Top Bowlers
Ameer Hamsa Warsha 24/3 (4 Overs, RR: 6)
Ranuka Shiran Fernando 31/3 (3 Overs, RR: 10.33)
Nalaka Hangamuwe 25/1 (3 Overs, RR: 8.33)
Vantaa Cricket Club Top Fielder Manoj Mahamada | Catches and Run Outs: 3 catches
Umpires: Areeb Quadir | Manoj Thauayogarajah
Helsinki Cricket Club Wins by 35 runs – earn 2 points
Join us on day 2 for more LIVE Finnish Premier League action. Catch all the LIVE action via the European Cricket Network – www.ecn.cricket – the digital home of European cricket and go-to platform to live stream European cricket with live scores and stats available on web and mobile platforms.
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