After tasting defeat at the weekend, Empire strikes back with a narrow victory over Greater Helsinki in Match 7 of the Finnish Premier League at the Kerava National Cricket Ground (KNCG).
Empire got off to an electric start and although momentum slowed towards the end of their T20 innings, a score of 148 always looked an imposing total for Greater Helsinki to chase down. Empire’s all-time leading scorer Vanraaj Padhaal (55) and Shoaib Qureshi (39) were Empire’s main builders with the bat.
In reply, Greater Helsinki fell behind the scoring rate early and never looked likely chasing down the target until some brutal late hitting by vice-captain Naveed Shahid suddenly brought hope. Shahid savaged 50 off 29 balls with 6 fours and a six, but ultimately Greater Helsinki fell six runs short in another entertaining Finnish Premier League encounter.
Greater Helsinki CC vs. Empire CC Finnish Premier League| Group Match #8 Tuesday, 09 June 2020 - Kerava National Cricket Ground in Finland
Match Times: 17:00:00 CEST | 20:30:00 IST Pitch Type: Astro Weather Conditions: Cloudy
Empire CC won the toss and elected to bat first ----Empire CC 148/5 (20 overs, RR: 7.4) Captain: Jonathan Scamans ----Greater Helsinki CC 142/8 (20 overs, RR: 7.1) Captain: Choudhary Shahzad Shabbir
Player of the Match: Naveed Shahid from Greater Helsinki CC Runs: 50 | Balls: 29 | 6s: 1 | 4s: 6 | E/R: 172.41 Wickets: 1 | Runs Against: 25 | Overs: 4
Savage hitting from ShahidEmpire CC Batting
Vanraaj Padhaal | Runs: 55 | Balls: 57 | 4s: 5 | E/R: 96.5
Shoaib Qureshi | Runs: 39 | Balls: 24 | 6s: | 4s: 4 | E/R: 162.5
Jonathan Scamans | Runs: 21 | Balls: 23 | 4s: 1 | E/R: 91.3
Empire CC Bowling
Abdul Ghafar 2/19 (4 Overs, RR: 4.75)
Raaz Mohammad 2/19 (4 Overs, RR: 4.75)
Kushagra Bhatnagar 1/22 (4 Overs, RR: 5.5)
Greater Helsinki CCBatting
Naveed Shahid | Runs: 50 | Balls: 29 | 6s: 1 | 4s: 6 | E/R: 172.4
Abdullah Attique | Runs: 22 | Balls: 18 | 6s: 1 | 4s: 1 | E/R: 122.2
Gulfam Nazir | Runs: 21 | Balls: 22 | 6s: | 4s: 1 | E/R: 95.5
Greater Helsinki CCBowling
Kashif Muhammad 1/19 (4 Overs, RR: 4.75)
Zia ur Rehman 1/23 (3 Overs, RR: 7.67)
Naveed Shahid 1/25 (4 Overs, RR: 6.25)
Empire CC win by 6 runs and get 2 points
