Elite Division

This weekend saw the start of matches in the Elitedivision regular season. In Skanderborg, KB was visiting, where KB won the toss and took the field. The match started on time, but the weather was not like the previous days. It was grey and cold (11°), and there was an expectation of later precipitation, whereby the umpires had reduced the match to 2 x 40 overs. Skanderborg was hit by a number of cancellations and had to get Andy Lambert back in after a long break. Skanderborg also had a debut for Zishan Shah, who was previously in Svanholm. It was not a dream debut for him, as he was caught leg for leg on the first ball! It was probably the third time that Zishan had started a season with a round of zero. On the other hand, Nikolaj Damgaard (94) was in a good mood and KB quickly found out that he should not be given a card, as the ball ended up in the football field next door. Asad Shah's first over cost exactly 20 points. Together with Shangeev Thani (66), the score climbed to 153 in the 20th over before Nikolaj edged to the keeper and missed a century. The rain came in between and there were 3 rain breaks during Skanderborg's half, but that did not stop Skanderborg from reaching 269 in the 40 overs. Shangeev continued his play until he was caught on the boundary for 66 while Andy Lambert (41) held one end without taking any big risks except for the last ball. Rizwan Mahmood (10) and Omar Hayat (17) did the same. Saad Ahmad was KB's best bowler with 3 for 35 in his 8 overs. The last overs were played in light rain, which continued and got worse. This prevented KB from getting to the wicket and as the rain continued KB could not get their 20 overs. The match therefore ended as “No result”.

In Zealand, rain was not expected until later and therefore the matches could be completed. Soraner played at home against Glostrup, who won the toss and went into the field. Soraner quickly lost two wickets but Yoganandan Pandiyan (43) and Chakradhar Gopalam (21) and later captain Ravikiran Shetty (61) got Soraner out of trouble. Glostrup's Vibhor Chaudhary put a damper on Soraner by taking 5 for 32 and that helped Soraner to be out for 200 after 49 overs. Glostrup started well with an opening wicket stand of 55, but both openers fell simultaneously and it was difficult for the following ones to build on. Glostrup were 100 for 6 before Vibhor Chaudary (29) and Rajesh Ayyappan (23*) raised the total to 152, but the last batsmen could not contribute enough for Glostrup to come close and the team was out for 170. Krishna Mikkilneni (4 for 32) and Gangadhar Kudipudi (3 for 20) were the damage-doers for Soraner.

Svanholm had a home match against Køge and it would be interesting to see how the team fared, as there had been a major exodus of players from the club. Toqeer Ahmad, Hamid Shah, Ehsan Karimi, Zishan Shah, Saud Munir and Asad Shah have found other pastures, while Brian Chari has not yet reported his arrival in Denmark. In today's match, Svanholm won the toss and went to the wicket, where Musa Mahmood (68) and Abdul Hashmi (52) laid a foundation of 103 points. Mads Henriksen (59) continued with Musa, and when Mads was caught leg for 203 on the board, Said Alam (27*) and Moeez Raza (18*) managed to get the total of 251 for 5 wickets. Køge's Shahidullah Safi was the only one to make an impression with 3 for 42. Køge at the wicket quickly got into serious trouble thanks to Moeez Raza's bowling (3 for 23) and were 59 for 6. Captain Absar Khan (38*) held his own, but none of the others could keep him company for very long, and Svanholm's Haris Ahmed took 3 for 14 as Køge were out for 120. Svanholm also used 8 bowlers.

On Sunday, AB visited Ishøj, and AB won the toss and sent Ishøj to the wicket. It was perhaps a decision they regretted, as they could not make a dent in Ishøj's opening pair of Salar Khan (72) and Lucky Malik (135) before the score was 182 on the board. This made room for Delawar Khan, who hammered 117 off just 50 balls, including 9 sixes. Lucky was caught with 356 on the board and this gave debut to Aftab Ahmed, who was in Skanderborg last year. He managed to get 5 balls and the total ended at 377 for 2 after 50 overs. Whether AB gave up or it was Ishøj's pitch is not known, but AB was 51 for 8 before Saboor Aghazadeh (36) and Fazal Mohammad (30*) added to the total, which ended at 112. Ishøj otherwise used 8 bowlers and the wickets were shared between six of them.

1st division

The first division began last weekend, when Aalborg had a visit from Esbjerg. Aalborg went to the wicket first and was out in the 44th over for 146. Theo Cupido with 37 and Raisul Islam with 26 were the main men, while Esbjerg's Jeppe Nielsen took 3 for 15. Esbjerg's new playing coach Ruan Cronje opened and was at the end with 84 not out well supported by Jakob Rubin (23) and Kasper Rubin (24*). Thus Esbjerg won by nine wickets.
Ishøj's second team had a visit from Svanholm's second team. Ishøj went to the wicket and in the 34th over was out for just 99. Jabran Khan with 28 was the best, while Mustakim Aslam made a mark for Svanholm with 4 for 15. Svanholm had to use 5 wickets to pass. They otherwise got a good opening of 64 led by James Moniz with 59 and Toby Adams with 25, but quickly lost wickets towards the end, divided between three bowlers.

On Saturday, Ishøj's second team visited Herning as part of a double tour of Jutland. Ishøj chose to go for the wicket, but after 9 overs the match was interrupted by rain at the score of 32 for 2. They managed to get going again at four o'clock, but the match was now reduced to 25 overs. Ishøj managed to score 155 for 8 thanks to 50 from Manssor Khan with 4 sixes. When the match started as a 50 overs match, Stig Hedevang was able to bowl 10 overs and took 3 for 45, while Mayuran Mahendrarajah took 3 for 46. Herning only managed to get 4.4 overs with 35 on the board before the match was interrupted due to the weather and did not get going again. The match is recorded as “no result”.

Sunday saw Ishøj in Aalborg, where the weather was considerably better with some sunshine, but with an icy wind that meant that the temperature was not very high on a pitch that is quite open. Umpire Kim Larsen was at least well wrapped up. Aalborg won the toss and went to the wicket, but were without Theo Cupido for today's match. The way Ishøj bowled, you got the impression that the winners of the match would be the one who bowled the fewest outside off. Ishøj bowled 35 of those plus 3 foul balls and that helped Aalborg end up with 234 for 9 after 50 overs. Sanjula De Silva (34) held together on the wicket side at the start, while captain Chirantha Wanasinghe (48) hit 3 sixes on a pitch where the grass was probably a little high. Both Kishor Jayasingham (31) and Swarup Krishnamurthy (39) contributed, while the wickets fell towards the end in the pursuit of points. Muhammad Azhar was Ishøj's best with 3 for 34. Ishøj quickly lost a few wickets, but the subsequent batsmen could not hold on. It did not seem that Ishøj would threaten Aalborg's total, and when Ali Asgar was caught, Ishøj was 128 for 8 and was considered lost. But Mansoor Khan (50*) and Binod Khair (23) wanted it differently, as they had not given up. Despite a high required scoring rate, they fought on and thanks to a lost "lady grab" they began to threaten Aalborg. With four overs left, they needed 38 points, but the chase for points meant risks and Binod was run out. Last man Husnain only lasted 3 balls and so the victory was home to Aalborg on the 38 points.

Albertslund began their season in the 1st division after their relegation last year by being visited by KB's second team, who chose to go for the wicket first. KB quickly lost two wickets, but captain Hassan Farooq (86) and Ahamedul Karim (36) helped stabilize things and Hassan held his wicket until the end. Hamza Qureshi (21) helped get KB up to 205, when the last wickets fell in the chase for points with 2 runs out. Yasir Ayub from Albertslund was the best bowler with 4 for 50. KB's total proved to be not enough for Birat Bhandari (52), Waqas Hafeez (21), Mohammad Ali (22), Naveed Mughal (39*) and Imran Sahi (31*) helped pass with the loss of 6 wickets. KB tried to break through with nine bowlers!