Mamba Challengers 86/3 in 12.2 overs (Ivan Thawithemwira 46, Imtiaz Mohammed 18, Trevor Bukenya 2/10) beat Aziz Damani Scorpions 84/6 in 14 overs (Zaphaniah Arinaitwe 28, Henry Ssenyondo 2/8, Falak Shah 2/11) by 7 wickets.
In the first game of Thursday, Challengers have to chase down 85 runs in 14 overs to earn two points. They started in a steady fashion and even lost Shah in second over but later Mohammed and Thawithemwira batted beautifuly to construct a match defining partnership to add 71 runs. Thawithemwira went on to contribute 46 runs off 27 deliveries with 4 fours and 3 sixes while Mohammed made 18 runs. Among the bowlers, Bukenya had the best figures among all which read 2/10 in three overs.
Batting first after winning the toss, Scorpions openers gave them a perfect start at outset. After 5 overs, they were 45/1, after Arinaitwe made a good contribution of 28 runs in just 13 balls. Apart from him, there were contributions from Butt, Sharf and Ssempija as well. But they could not capitalize on the start they recieved from their openers and could just reach 84 runs in 14 overs. In the bowling, Ssenyondo and Shah picked up a couple of wickets each.
Mamba Challengers 102/9 in 14 overs (Ivan Thawithemwira 30, Frank Akankwasa 22, Frank Nsubuga 2/14) beat The Royal Varsani 98 in 13.5 overs (Frank Nsubuga 22, Rogers Olipa 3/18, Frank Akankwasa 2/23) by 4 runs.
Chasing 103 runs in 14 overs would not have been that easy for Varsani unless they got a good start. They started well before the fall of Ssesazi who got dismissed on 20 in the third over, soon Aneef also got out in the next over and suddenly came a turning point in the game with two uick wickets. Then there was a short partnership of 28 runs for the third wicket, but again there was a batting collapse from the batting side by the end of 10 overs. Now they needed 36 runs from the last four overs. But the bowlers of Challengers came back strongly and as a result Varsani fell short by four runs.
Earlier, Varsani won the toss and elected to field first. Challengers lost their first wicket in the second over, but the good thing was, Thawithemwira was still on crease, he made 30 runs off just 12 deliveries with three maximums and two boundaries. Soon, after the fall of Thawithemwira, Varsani came back in the match by striking three uick wickets. In the middle order, there were contributions from Olipa, Akankwasa and Ruyange who played innings of 14, 22 and 13 respectively and made it possible for Challengers to reach the total of 102 runs. From the Varsani, Issaneez, F Nsubuga, Ssebanja and S Nsubuga took couple of wickets each.
Today, Challengers showed what they are capable of on their day. They have to be very efficient and clinical in their upcoming games, otherwise it will be almost impossible for them to qualify for the finals.