KUCHING – Asian Empire beat One United in the final of the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus cricket tournament to take the championship title, recently.
One United won the toss to start the game at the university grounds and elected to bat first but were badly beaten by the technical bowling prowess of Asian Empire and could not put up a large total on the board.
Asian Empire sent in their two best and in-form batsmen to start their innings later into the game. Despite the fact that the chasing total was not overly big, they still lost a couple of wickets early in their innings but managed to sneak in a victory in the fourth over.
“It was good to be part of the tournament but winning it is like icing on the cake. All the teams played a gentlemen’s game. Our players supported each other very well, so three hearty cheers to them. It was also great to have players from other countries,” said Chirath Uralagamage, captain of Asian Empire.
“I really enjoy my time here. This is my last semester and I am really happy to have been awarded ‘Player of the tournament’ before I leave,” said One United batsman Talal Dilshad who was awarded for his consistent batting display, including 11 sixes throughout the tournament.
“It’s sad that we did not win the trophy but I thoroughly enjoyed the game and helping my team make it to the final. I will always remember this moment,” he said, adding that he is grateful to the university for supporting their passion for cricket.
His teammate Osama Qureshi was awarded Best Bowler for his eight wickets in the tournament.
The Best Batsman award went to Keithon Goona from Asian Empire for scoring 216 runs in the tournament.
Swinburne Cricket Club advisor Mujahid Tabassum presented the trophy and medals.
“We look forward to providing better support to our international students and hope to organise more of such tournaments in the future,” Mujahid said.
A total of eight teams, divided into two groups, competed in the tournament. Of the eight, Asian Empire, One United, Pandu and Singha qualified for the semi-finals.
In the semis, One United won against Pandu comfortably while Asian Empire thrashed Singha with a remarkable run difference, to sail into the final.
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.