Pakistan Cricket Club of Taiwan (PCCT) demolished Indian Cricket Club of Taiwan (ICCT) by 76 runs on Sunday to reach the Northern Taiwan Cricket League final.
PCCT won the toss in Yingfeng, Taipei, batted and profited from wayward ICCT bowling. They lost the in-form Thomas Nel when he was trapped lbw by Sachin Bhimani (2-17) for two, but it hardly mattered as captain Mujahid Muhammad (17) and Shezhad Khan (35) mixed fine running with the odd boundary to post 76 off the first 10 overs.
Shezhad was bowled the delivery before drinks and Mujahid followed the same way two overs later, but Asif Saeed and Amjad Zafar maintained the momentum. Saeed slashed a wide delivery over point for six for the shot of the day and despite a couple of late wickets PCCT posted 149 for six in their 20 overs.
ICCT crawled to 35 for five after 10 overs after which they were never in the game. Mubashir Sheikh (1-16) bowled a tight opening spell, but Nel did most of the damage, grabbing two for 14 and effecting a run out with a direct hit.
The ICCT resistance was led by Sandeep Patel who hit 22, but with wickets falling steadily it was nowhere near enough and ICCT were bowled out for 73.
The second semi and final will be held at the same venue this weekend. While the players could not wish for a more scenic ground, the playing surface could be better. With an Asian Games bid planned by Taipei there may a lot of work required to produce a couple of cricket grounds that meet international standards.
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