Azam TV Max, Veecom Warriors and Maersk All Stars are joint leaders at the Advanced Players Cricket League (APL), with two points each after second day.
The three-day tournament that is televised live by Azam TV will reach its climax today at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club (DGC). All three teams recorded a single victory but Azam Tv Max and Veecom Warriors have played two matches and lost one each.
In Saturday’s first match, Veecom Warriors who lost by 5 wickets to Maersk All Stars at their opening match on Friday, came strongly to beat new team at the league Azam Tv Max by 8 wickets.
Azam Tv went into the match with all confidence after their opening match victory against Maxx Changers. They went to bat first and manage 125 runs al out in allotted 20 overs, but saw their opponent cancel the score with only two wickets down.
It was a good job from Richard Cook, who posted 38 runs for Veecom Warriors from 40 balls before he sent to the pavilion by and excellent Ct. Jiten’s catch.
Kassim Nassor scored 24 runs not out and Issa Kikasi 22 runs, while Arun Dagar had three wickets to help Veecom get an easy win. Highest scorers for Azam Tv Max were Tanzanian ace Benson Mwita 35 runs and Omar Siddigui 27 runs.
In the opening match on Friday Azam Tv Max recorded their first win with 26 runs against Maersk All Stars. They went to bat first and collected 133 runs.
In reply, their opponents managed only 107 runs. In other match yesterday Maersk All Stars defeated Veecom by 5 wickets. Veecom Warriors elected to bat first and managed 131 runs with 6 wickets down, but failed to prevent their rivals from chasing the score in the reply.
The Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) official Kazim Nasser told the ‘Sunday News’ that everything was going as planned so far. Twelve foreign players are in the country to spice up the event. They are coming from cricket advanced countries India, Pakistan, UK and South Africa.
Three players from each country will add experience to a team in the four participating teams.
The APL tournament is annually organised by the TCA, with a view to improving the performance of local players by providing regular 50 overs and Twenty20 competitive opportunities to players who are keen to play competitive games. Defending champion Gyprox Strikers, however, Nasser said are helping the association in organising the event.
