Zagreb Runners-up in Slovenian League after Dramatic Super Over

Croatian cricket club Hrvatski Sokol (Croatian Falcons) from the capital Zagreb have finished second in their debut season of the Slovenian 40 over competition.

The Zagreb side met Skofja Loka in the final on Sunday (21 September) at the picturesque Valburga oval on the outskirts of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, and what a dramatic final it turned out to be.

After being sent into bat by Skofja Loka, Zagreb made a slow, but steady start to find themselves at 43-1 after 13 overs. After the loss of two wickets captain Paul Musin joined opener Douglas Kennedy, and the pair went on to put on a 94-run partnership and steered the visitors towards a total of 150 plus. Some aggressive running and shots in the death overs saw Zagreb reach 169-5 after their 40 overs.

Skoja Loka made a positive start to the run chase, scoring a number of boundaries in the opening few overs, but the Croatians managed to pick up wickets at regular intervals to keep them slightly on top. Hrvatski Sokol were ruing a number of missed chances in the field as Skofja Loka crept towards the target of 170 with some big hitting, including a number of boundaries from their danger men Shahid Arshad and Ayyaz Ahmed. Needing 8 runs with 3 wickets in hand, Kamal's catch off the bowling of Musin got rid of the dangerous Ahmed, and left the door slightly open for the Zagreb side. A wicket from Chris Osborne 3 balls later meant the Slovenes required 8 runs with just 1 wicket left. The last pair managed to knock 7 runs off and got to 169 before the batsmen risked going for a single on a misfield and were run out in dramatic fashion. With the scores tied the match headed to a Super Over.

A great over from Ahmed meant Zagreb could only manage 6 runs and it was Ahmed and Arshad who had no problems knocking the runs off in 4 balls to give the Slovenes a dramatic title earning victory. A great game of cricket, played in good spirits, ending a good debut season in the Slovenian league for the Zagreb side.

Result:

Slovenian 40/40 Final, Valburga 21.09.14

Zagreb 169/5 (P.Musin 58, D. Kennedy 53*, J. Butkovic 12)
Skofija Loka 169 all out (P. Musin 4-16, W. Kamal 3-25)

Scores tied - Super Over
Zagreb - 6/2
Skofija Loka - 7/0 with 2 balls to spare.