In DCA Twenty20 League, sponsored by Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo, Srilankan Sports Club, Crescent CC, Sunrise CC and Lankan Lions recorded victories in the first round of matches played at the DCA ground facility here. Sri Lankan Sport Club trounced Al-Anwar by 5 wickets. After electing to bat first, Al-Anwar CC captain and opener Hanif and Nisar started the innings. As its frontline batsmen did not bat with responsibility, it was down by 3 wickets at the total of 29 runs. One down batsman Naser batted superbly contributing 59 runs with decent support from middle order. He took the final tally to 135 in the allotted overs. Naleem of Srilankan Sports Club captured six wickets. On the chase, Srilankan Sports Clubs frontline batsman batted recklessly and lost 3 wickets for 22 runs in six overs. But fine display by the middle order, especially Shahab and Murshid, rescued its innings and achieved its target in the 19th over. Murshid remained unbeaten on 47 and Shehab hit 33 not out. KCC Knight CC was knocked down by Crescent CC by 3 wickets. KCC Knights openers Abdul Rehman and Nasser started the innings. With the loss of two quick wickets at the initial stage, Abdul Rehman and Imran batted diligently and contributed 42 runs for the third wicket. With the consecutive fall of Abdul Rehman (29) and Imran (23), the middle order batsmen could not strengthen their innings. The team was bowled out for 87. For Crescent CC Kamran, Usman and Irfan captured 2 wickets each. In reply, Crescent CC lost both the openers at the initial stage. Middle order batsman Abbas with 38 runs batted with responsibility and helped the team reach the target with 3 wickets to spare. For KCC Knights CC, Haneef captured 3 wickets. Sunrise CC defeated IMC by 123 runs. Sunrise opener Ashraf and one down Shahid showed their batting prowess by producing 173 runs for the second wicket. Ashraf scored 76 and Shahid 6 5. After the departure of this pair, the incoming batsmen could not to do much. The team tallied 201. Chasing a big score IMC fumbled and was bowled out for 78. For Sunrise, Shoaib captured 3 wickets. Kanoo CC lost to Lankan Lions by 62 runs. Lankan Lions opener Shamil and one down Naser batted steadily and added 35 runs for the second wicket. With good batting by Shamil (50) and fine support from middle order batsmen, the Lions set a target of 162 runs for Kanoo. Faheem Dar captured 3 wickets. In reply, Kanoo frontline batsmen were not able to tackle the Lions bowlers. It lost 5 wickets for 45 runs by the 10th over. Only Amer with 45 runs tried to accelerate the innings which was not enough to achieve the target. It lost the match by 62 runs. __
