Report: Mohammed Nooman
Dammam, Sep 28: MASA family truly mean when they say “We love, live and breathe cricket".
On a warm morning, the ever enthusiastic members gathered at Rakha (Dammam) Cricket ground to support and participate in MASA Internal Cricket Tournament 2011.
It was a knock-out tournament consisting of eight teams for the above-16 age group. The league matches took place in the morning session, followed by semi-finals and final in the afternoon. Each match was of 10 overs.
Teams:
MASA Rockers - captain: Dayanand Chowta
Mangalore Tigers - captain: Purushotham Pai
Anna Kudla - captain: Abdul Salam
Udupi Challengers - captain: Asif Mukka
MASA Attackers - captain: Sandeep Shetty
Karavali Cricketers - captain: Rajesh Thingalaya
Feel Free - captain: Asif Darbe
MASA Bodyguards - captain: Viraj Shetty
The event started as scheduled by 7 am according to the fixtures decided in the all-committee meeting. The tosses for league matches were done during assembly, led by president Ravi Karkera, vice-president Santhosh Shetty and match officials for the tournament.
League and semi-final matches were played in two grounds at Rakha simultaneously and the final was played in ground 1.
Excellent display of batting/bowling/fielding was showcased by the players. Commentary in Kannada and Tulu were delivered by Nagaraj, Nizam and Ravi Karkera to the encouragement of the players and entertainment to the viewers.
Teams Mangalore Tigers, Udupi Challengers, MASA Attacker and MASA Bodyguards made it to the semis while Udupi Challengers and MASA Bodyguards reached the finals. In the finals, the toss was won by MASA Bodyguards and the team elected to field. Udupi Challengers scored 93 runs in 10 overs at the loss of six wickets. MASA Bodyguards chased the score in 9 overs without losing any wicket.
Sponsors for the event were Al Manafa Transport, Purusotam Pai, Chandrahas karkera, Abdul Salam, Dayanand Chowta and Group, Babu Kotebettu, Viraj Shetty, Ravi Karkera and Santosh Shetty; whose immense support helped the event to be a huge success.
* Best bowler of the tournament - Nayaz Ahmed of MASA Bodyguards
* Best batsman of the tournament - Mohammed Iqbal of MASA Bodyguards
The tournament winners and achievers were awarded with medals and trophies. However, winners’ trophy will be presented during the annual day, which is scheduled for December 2011.The evening closed on this sporting event in a renewed bonding of camaraderie and friendship, while the stars above continued to shine brightly on the adventurous players.
Upcoming events of MASA: Talents Day 2011 - October 7; Food Festival 2011 - October 21.