ICC World Twenty20 2012 qualifiers-Seychelles make good impression despite division 3 final loss to Rwanda |01 March 2011

Despite the loss at the Achimota field in Accra, Ghana, on Saturday, the Seychelles selection can be proud of their achievements on their international debut.

After clinching the ICC Africa Division 3 title, Rwanda have made a giant step towards playing in the ICC World Twenty20 2012. They will now play in the ICC Africa Division 2 tournament in Benoni, South Africa, in April.

The Rwandans were asked to bat first and put on a total of 125 for 4 in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to opener Audifax Byiringiro top-scoring with 31 runs.

The Seychelles selection fell off their target with 117 for 7, although Shiva Nagaraja made 41 off 58 balls and Harikrishnan Kamalan hit 39.

Newcomers to regional cricket events, the Seychelles team won their three group B matches to book a place in the final.

In their first match against Mali, they batted first and did very well to finish with an impressive 161 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 7 wickets for a 60-run win. Former player of the year Krishna Naidoo made the highest contribution with 47 runs, while Harikrishnan Kamalan added 45 and Shiva Nagaraja 30. Mali got only 101 runs in 17.4 overs all-out.

Seychelles’ captain Kaushal Patel was named man of the match because of his bowling, taking 4 wickets in his spell of 4 overs and conceding only 11 runs.

Seychelles’ second victory was against Gambia by 15 runs. Again batting first and scoring 85 runs in 10 overs, Seychelles’ Kamalan and Tim Horpinitch finished with 30 runs apiece. In reply, Gambia scored 70 all out.

Against Morocco in their third and final pool match, Seychelles were asked to bat and they set a very competitive score of 164 for 4. Harikrishnan Kamalan got 55 off 75 balls and Sandesh Kunder got a quickfire 46 off 38. Morocco were eventually dismissed for 103.

Meanwhile, in the third-place playoff, Lesotho beat Morocco by 17 runs and Gambia earned victory against Cameroon in the fifth place playoff match.

G. G.