On day two of the Finnish Premier League, SKK Rapids met Helsinki Gymkhana at the Kerava National Cricket Ground (KNCG) in the city of Kerava, just outside Helsinki.

REPORT: MATCH 2 - SKK Rapids vs Helsinki Gymkhana CC - Finnish Premier League

SKK Rapids started their 2020 Finnish Premier League campaign strongly with a comprehensive success over Helsinki Gymkhana on Day 2 of the Finnish Premier League.

However, after winning the toss and electing to make first use of the conditions, SKK Rapids started their innings poorly - losing Mirza Zeeshan Baig and Finland national team captain Nathan Collins inside the first four overs.

Australian-born Peter Gallagher smoked a series of rasping cover drives, before departing for a sprightly 22 off 12 to rebuild the innings.

Singled out as the key man by “Mr Maximo” Vinny Sandhu in his spot-on preview, Atif Rasheed looked in superb touch from the get go. Showing exactly why he was capable of hitting 48 sixes last season, Rasheed finally holed out for an enterprising 41 off 29 balls, hitting five fours and a mighty six which was too hot to handle for a bemused fielder who tipped the ball over the fence.

ATIF AND THE MAXIMO

However, SKK soon subsided rapidly to 101-8 in the 16th over, before a recovery of sorts ensued with Yathu Vijayaratnam hitting 21 off 18 balls. Rapids did however fail to bat out all the overs, posting 129 before losing their final wicket with four balls remaining.

In reply, despite Shahid Gondal smashing a six off the third ball of the innings, Helsinki Gymkhana’s chase never really got jumping out of the blocks.

Fellow opener Pankaj Saharan did provide some stability at the top of the order with a valuable 41 off 43 balls, but the eventual Player of the Match was offered little support from the other end.

Three slapstick run outs didn’t exactly help the Gladiators cause, and two wickets in two balls from Raja Waqas (3-15 off his four overs) strangled the scoring rate ever further.

Captain Faisal Shahzad proved the only other batsman to reach double figures, mustering some lusty late blows for his unbeaten 16.

Gymkhana struggled to get going throughout, slumping to 104 all out in the final over and a disappointing 25 run defeat.

Scores and Statistics ----SKK Rapids won the toss and elected to bat first - SKK Rapids 129/10 (19.2 overs, RR: 6.67) - Gym Helsinki Gymkhana 104/10 (19.5 overs, RR: 5.24) - SKK Rapids Wins by 25 runs

Player of the Match:

Pankaj Saharan Gym Helsinki Gymkhana Runs: 41 | Balls: 43 | 6s: 1 | 4s: 1 | S/R: 95.35

Wickets: 2 | Runs Against: 12 | Overs: 2.2

SKK Rapids Top Batters 

Atif Rasheed | Runs: 41 | Balls: 29 | 6s: 1 | 4s: 5 | S/R: 141.4

Peter Gallagher | Runs: 22 | Balls: 12 | 6s: 0 | 4s: 3 | S/R: 183.3

Yathu Vijayaratnam | Runs: 21 | Balls: 18 | 4s: 1 | S/R: 116.7

Yathu Vijayaratnam | Runs: 21 | Balls: 18 | 4s: 1 | S/R: 116.7

SKK Rapids Top Bowlers 

Raja Waqas 15/3 (4 Overs, RR: 3.75)

Qaiser Saddique 18/1 (4 Overs, RR: 4.5)

SKK Rapids Top Fielder 

Areeb Quadir | Catches and Run Outs: 2 run outs

Gym Helsinki Gymkhana Top Batters 

Pankaj Saharan | Runs: 41 | Balls: 43 | 6s: 1 | 4s: 1 | S/R: 95.3

Faisal Shahzad | Runs: 16 | Balls: 18 | 6s: 1 | S/R: 88.9

Gym Helsinki Gymkhana Top Bowlers 

Atti Ur Rehman 21/3 (4 Overs, RR: 5.25)

Pankaj Saharan 12/2 (2.2 Overs, RR: 5.14)

Javed Jan Abdul Latif 18/1 (3 Overs, RR: 6)

Gym Helsinki Gymkhana Top Fielder Muhammad Gawas | Catches and Run Outs: 2 run outs

SKK RAPIDS Wins by 25 runs – earn 2 points