TACK-MG Cricket Weekend A Grand Success
Thursday, June 26, 2014
TACK Introduces Pathbreaking Helicam Technology in Kuwait Cricket
Teams Association for Cricket in Kuwait (TACK) and MG Cricket Club, continuing with their mission of serving and enhancing the game of cricket in Kuwait; successfully hosted and conducted the weekend Cricket Bonanza where 8 finals were played out on Thursday and Friday. 16 teams, more than a 100 players along with over 500 cricket loving audience was a part of this grand Cricket weekend bonanza. The successful completion of these two tournaments i.e. TACK-MG Division League (TMDL) and DOHA-TURF Division League (DTDL), has further cemented the fact that TACK-MG combination is a name to be reckoned with when it comes to running quality domestic cricket in Kuwait and with the kind of show put up over (19th-20thJune) weekend, one cannot wait for their next tournament, T-10 RAMADAN LEAGUE to begin.
Living up to their reputation of setting standards and benchmarks for others to follow, TACK-MG offered the perfect mix of food, music and entertainment packed T-20 cricket to people who turned up in huge numbers to feel at home, away from home. True to its image of being trendsetters, TACK introduced yet another new concept to Kuwait cricket during the finals i.e. Helicam. This path breaking technology that has recently been introduced in Kuwait was used by TACK to capture a bird’s eye view of the action at the picturesque TACK Entertainment City Cricket Ground in Doha. DJ Flames, now an integral team member at TACK finals and a renowned name in Kuwait music fraternity was present playing the latest tunes and perfectly captured the mood and vibe of all the matches and the attendees. The attendees included people from cricket loving south Asian countries along with the locals thus demonstrating the popularity and love TACK-MG enjoy amongst a wide range of communities.
DTDL and TMDL, under the auspices of Touristic Enterprises Company & leadership of TACK President Mr. Mohammad Ashraf and Patron-in-Chief Mr. Mahmoud Abdullah saw more than 75 teams competing for more than three months spread across four divisions; A, B, C and D depending upon each team’s strengths and standing in TACK rankings. In TMDL, UCC won the Division D championship by beating Abbasiya Royals, Division C finals were won by Lahore Badshahs; Black Mambaz emerged victorious in Division B finals while Division A finals saw the mighty Aroma Cricket Club beating Safety Plus Dashers by a hair splitting margin of 1 wicket. Imran Ali played the innings of a lifetime and his 83 not out snatched victory for Aroma from the jaws of defeat. After dismissing Safety’s formidable batting lineup for 149 on cement wicket, everybody on the ground including Aroma thought they had the match in the bag. Khalid Butt was dismissed cheaply after Ali Talib took a blinder catch hurting himself in the process. It was left to Farooq who played a brilliant knock and with support from lower middle order helped his team to put up 149 runs on the board. At the halfway stage everybody thought Aroma would cruise through the finals and chase the target comfortably but the dream quickly turned into a nightmare as Aroma lost 6 wickets for less than 30 runs on the board. Aroma skipper Amjad Ashraf steadied the ship along with Imran Ali but with 26 required off the last 2 overs and only 1 wicket in hand Safety Plus had the game in the bag. However, Imran Ali had other ideas as his combination of flicks and switch hits saw Aroma over the line and clinch the TMDL Division A trophy.
In DTDL, the finals on Friday saw KRH and ISO Desert Warriors fight it out for top spot in Division D. It was another nail biter of a match with ISO Desert Warriors winning by 1 wicket. Batting first KRH could only muster a meagre 119 from their 20 overs with Mahmood Alam being the chief destroyer grabbing 4 wickets. It was a tough chase for the Warriors as they lost 9 wickets on the way and won the match with just one delivery to go. Arif Mumtaz lead the chase scoring crucial 34 runsin a low scoring match. Division C final, played between Skylark and Channels Media, was another close encounter with Skylark winning the match by just 10 runs in the end. After winning the toss and batting first, Skylark put up a mammoth total of 190 runs on the board with Akilesh Rao smashing 79 off just 47 deliveries with 3 huge sixes. Channels Media in reply looked comfortable to chase down the big target as their openers put up 86 runs in 8 overs. However, Skylark bowlers persisted with good line and length as Channels Media lost wickets in cluster and could not build another partnership after the massive first wicket stand. Akilesh Rao performed with the ball as well picking up 2 wickets and Hassan also grabbed 3 wickets for just 28 runs. MG7 and Kharafi National battled it out for top slot in Division B which turned out to be a completely one-sided affair. Kharafi National batting line up was completely blown away as they were dismissed for a nothing score of 99. Simon Pramodh was the chief destroyer as he picked up 3 wickets at less than 4 runs an over. MG7 faced a few hiccups initially while chasing but Aamir Javed and Nikhil Kulkarni steadied the ship and ensured there was no upset, scoring 48 and 28 respectively.
By the time Division A finals started, the ground was already buzzing with energy as the crowd had started to build up and preceding matches setting up the atmosphere perfectly. The players were seated in the newly implemented international standard dug-outs that can accommodate as many as 32 players at any given time. DTDL Division A finals again saw Aroma and Safety Plus facing each other. However, it looked Safety Plus had not recovered from the shocking loss of Thursday’s finals and looked uninspired during the final. Batting first, they were dismissed for a cheap 124 all out in 19.5 overs with no one apart from Farooq (58 off 43 balls) firing for Safety Plus. Once the opening stand of 68 runs was broken, Safety Plus could not get any momentum or build partnerships as Aroma bowlers put in an extremely disciplined performance. Aroma’s latest find Raveja Desilva was in superb form as he took 4 wickets, 3 of which were in the same over, for just 29 runs. Aroma’s fielding was also top notch especially Imran Ali and Raveja who took blinders at long off and long on respectively. Aroma’s chase was led by Kashif Shareef who scored a mature and patient 50 as Aroma did not want another thriller while chasing a small target. They started cautiously and chased down the target in 18.4 overs for the loss of just 3 wickets.
As has become the norm with TACK-MG and the one aspect where they are head and shoulders above any other in terms of serving the game of cricket in Kuwait, the players were rewarded generously with cash prizes worth $15000 distributed among the finalists. The runners-up of six finals got $210 cash prize along with a trophy and the winners walked away with $425 in addition to the winner’s trophy. Man-of-the-finals were rewarded $140 along with a trophy as well. Apart from the patron-in-chief of TACK Mr. Mahmoud Abdullah, presentation party also included corporate giants such as the GM of ISO Plus Middle East Mr. Andreas Kerner and Mr. Sadakat Ali from Channels Media. Pro Sports, the official sports equipment partner of TACK provided the trophies and medals.
TACK-IIK children’s cricket academy, prized project of TACK management, was also involved in festivities as the registered children participa
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