By Richard Boxall
The Cyprus cricket team had to contend with a strong host nation and some wet weather during their international 10-over tournament over the weekend.
After losing three times to the Czechs, and twice being rained off against Greece, Cyprus had their best game in the final match, where they suffered a last over defeat to Greece which consigned them to third place.
On the first day the Cyprus players struggled to come to terms with the conditions, and were well beaten by the Czech Republic in the opening game after managing only 78-9 in their 10 overs, a score which the hosts passed inside 7 overs for the loss of two wickets. Roman Mazumder opened with 15, and Preetaj Deol (21 not out) and Hardeep Singh (16) rescued the team from a dreadful 39-7 to post at least some sort of a total.
The next game, against Greece, was abandoned early on due to a rainstorm, and later in the day, when the weather had cleared sufficiently, they were put to the sword again by Czechia who racked up 124-6 before restricting Cyprus to 57-8. The best bowling for Cyprus came from Vimal Khanduri (3-23) and Roshan Siriwardana (2-11), who also top-scored with 15, while Jimi Chialoufas and Lovedeep Sandhu made 10 apiece.
The second day started much more positively, as Cyprus batted well to reach 104-6, with good contributions from the top four batters – Shoaib Ahmad (29), Roman Mazumder (22), Lovedeep Sandhu (20) and Preetaj Deol (16). Sadly after 2 balls of the Greek innings the heavens opened again and the match was abandoned.
The storm also severely delayed the start of the next game, which had to be reduced to 3 overs per side. The Czechs set a daunting target by hitting 50 from their 3 overs, before Cyprus started off at the necessary rate by taking 17 from their first over. It was too much to expect them to maintain that level however, and they ended their 3 overs on 25-2 (Shoaib Ahmad 16).
With the Czech Republic beating Cyprus three times, and also winning two of their three games with Greece, they were the clear winners of the tournament. But the last game – Cyprus v Greece – gave the Cypriot team a chance to finish joint second if they could achieve a victory, and again they performed well with the bat in reaching 92-9. Preetaj Deol hit the top score of 17, and there were knocks of 12 each by Jimi Chialoufas and Shoaib Ahmad and 10 by Roshan Siriwardana.
Greece set off well in reply but were pegged back by Hardeep Singh, enjoying his first bowl of the weekend and not only taking two wickets, but also conceding just 11 runs from his two overs. However, a couple of dropped catches did not help the Cyprus cause, and Greece were able to score the winning runs with 4 balls to spare.
The tournament will have provided a valuable learning experience for an experimental Cyprus team, with opportunities given to a number of players new to international cricket.
The next event for the team will be a European international tournament in Spain in early October, by which time the team will have licked its wounds and should return stronger and more prepared for the standard of opposition they are likely to face.
Back in Cyprus, next weekend will feature the finals of the two current domestic tournaments. On Saturday Royal take on Sri Lanka Lions in the 40-over final, and the following day Nicosia Tigers face Moufflons in the T20 final, both matches at the Ypsonas cricket ground.