By ELIAS CHIPEPO –
THE Lusaka Business and Training College (LBTC) won the first ever Universities cricket T20 cricket tournament after winning two matches at a competition that attracted four teams.
LBTC beat Zambia Air Service Training Institute (ZASTI) and Lusaka Vocational Training College (LVTC) by 34 and 33 runs respectively during the games played at Metropolitan Sports Club in Lusaka.
In the first match, LBTC batted first and scored 70 runs in 15 overs with four wickets down as Albert Musonda top scored with 15 while Harry Njovu contributed 13 runs.
ZASTI batting second and were restricted to 36 runs for nine wickets down with one of their batsmen unable to bat after suffering an injury whilst fielding.
None of the ZASTI batsmen were able to score double figures as LBTC bowler Kalonde was the pick of the bowlers with a six wicket haul as they ran out winners with 34 runs.
After beating ZASTI, LBTC faced LVTC in a match that saw them win the toss and opted to bat first on a flat pitch scoring 63 runs for nine wickets down in 10 overs as Moses Maiba top scored with 12 runs.
LVTC batting second only managed to score 36 runs as LBTC won the match by 33 runs to win the tournament after recording two straight wins.
The ladies teams who were also scheduled to battle it out at Centrals Cricket Club did not turn up due the ongoing exams.
Meanwhile, the event was graced by Zambia Cricket Union (ZCU) committee members Martin Mutono, Ng’andu Yandikani and Judith Mbulo.
ZCU life member Haroon Ghumra, who is also Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ) board member, and Technical Education and Vocational Sports Association (TEVISA) president Fabian Zulu also attend the tournament.
Yandikani expressed happiness that the tournament was held and was hopeful that playing the sport in universities will help bridge the gap between the colleges and schools.
“This is a development programme, it has been put on our calendar and our hope is to have it run every year in order to help develop the sport and also keep it active,” he said. Ghumra advised the ZCU to consider partnering with the clubs so that the university games can act as curtain raisers for the league matches.
Mutono said the consideration will be taken seriously to ensure that university teams are kept busy at weekends and especially when the students were done with their examinations.
He expressed happiness with the enthusiasm shown by the students that took part in the one day tournament adding that it was a sign that the sport was heading for greater heights.