A four-wicket haul from Parussalla Chinthaka helped ICBT Campus beat Karachi University by 1 run in a last-ball finish in Aston Rowant. Chasing 115, Karachi were 54 for 2 after 11 overs when Chinthaka came on and took two wickets in his first over. He then removed opener Haris Ali, who had made 52, to leave Karachi needing 28 from 17 balls with four wickets in hand. When Chinthaka began the final over, they needed 15. Boundaries from Mir Hamza and Mohammad Ubaid helped them get 13, but they lost two wickets, including their eighth off the last ball, when Ubaid was run out going for a third to tie the scores.
Having been sent in, ICBT had lost their first three wickets inside the third over before Anushka Perera and VIT Madhushan put on 40 for the fourth wicket. It was to remain the highest partnership of the innings, with none of their batsmen reaching double figures. Hamza was Karachi’s most successful bowler, with figures of 3 for 19.
Leeds/Bradford MCCU shot University of Liberal Arts out for 69 to romp to a 120-run win in Wormsley. Having chosen to bat, Leeds/Bradford lost an early wicket before Nick Gubbins and Chris Wakefield put their innings back on track with a 54-run second-wicket partnership. Wakefield and Charles Roebuck then added 51 in 32 balls before Tanmoy Roy struck twice in one over. That didn’t dent Leeds/Bradford’s progress, though, as Liam Watkinson smashed an unbeaten 22-ball 40 to propel them to a total of 189 for 5.
Liberal Arts’ chase never got off the ground. Only one of their batsmen – wicketkeeper Izal Khan – got into double figures, and he remained unbeaten on 34 when they lost their final wicket, with nine balls still remaining. All six Leeds/Bradford bowlers picked up wickets, with Liam Watkinson and David Foster bagging two each.