Sidibari
Male’ Sports Club has defeated defending champions CBL in the final match of T20 President’s Cup, the national cricket tournament of Maldives.
The final match, played on Friday evening, saw Male’ Sports Club win the trophy by winning the game in four wickets.
Malé Sports won the toss and sent CBL in to bat first. CBL were bowled out for 127 runs. Aashaan Yapa top-scored for CBL with 52 runs off 39 balls, while Malé Sports’ Mohamed Mahfooz took three wickets. Mohamed Shiyam and Irufaan Alam also took two wickets each for Malé Sports.
Malé Sports, batting second, reached 130 runs for the loss of four wickets in 17.5 overs. CBL’s bowlers had a strong start to the innings, taking three Malé Sports wickets in the first four overs for just 22 runs.
In the final, Rishwan scored 61 runs off 46 balls. He was dismissed 12 runs short of the target by a Leg Before Wicket (LBW). Rishwan was awarded man of the match.
Best batsman of the President’s Cup was Malé Sports’ Ismail Ali. The best bowler award went to Panduka Dilshan, and the best fielder award to Dilshan Fernando. The fair play award went to Rayaan Tholhathu, while the best player award went to CBL’s Tharaka Ruwan.
CBL reached the final by defeating Milan Cricket Academy in the first semi-final. In the second semi-final, Malé Sports beat New Star. In the third semi-final, Malé Sports defeated Milan to secure their place in the final.
Milan were the T20 Premier League champions this year. In that competition, they remained unbeaten for three consecutive seasons. In the President’s Cup, the teams invited were: CBL as league champions, New Star and Malé Sports as second and third place finishers, and the league’s two lowest-ranked sides, MS Helping Hand Sports Academy and Offu FC.
