KUCHING – Team XLR8 beat One United in the finals of the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus cricket tournament to take the championship title last month.
Held at the university’s multi-purpose field, One United won the toss to start the game but were unable to compete against the more superior XLR8 due to tide bowling. Thanks to a brilliant batting by Aqib Mushtaq, One United managed an impressive 44 runs before going down.
“Both teams played very well in the finals,” said engineering lecturer and club advisor Mujahid Tabassum, adding that this made the match exciting.
XLR8 sealed a seven-wicket win when Captain Chirath Uralagamage scored 13 not out and Danushka Nirmal De Silva for 21. Haneef Mohamed bowled a splendid over for XLR8 by taking three wickets for just four runs in the power play.
At the end of the tournament Danushka was awarded “Man of the Tournament” for scoring 100 runs along with couple of wickets. Shariful Islam was named “Best Bowler” for taking seven wickets for 28 runs in five matches.
Meanwhile, Ki Shon from Knight Rider, another team representing Swinburne Sarawak, was “Best Batsman of the Tournament”. He scored 107 runs in four matches.
According to Chirath, the tournament was well organized. “I am grateful to Swinburne Sarawak for providing international students, such as myself, the opportunity to play cricket while away from home,” he said.
Mujahid also thanked the tournament committee for organizing the two-day event, citing that the participation of the Sarawak Cricket Association and UNIMAS in this year’s competition would encourage other teams to take part in future tournaments. A total of 10 teams competed in the tournament.
Swinburne Sarawak has a large South Asian student population who are passionate about cricket. The university’s cricket association is run by international students and organises tournaments regularly.
This is the sixth year Swinburne Sarawak organised the tournament.