Season 1 of the Rotary Club of Accra Premier hard tennis ball Cricket tournament saw Accra Titans clinched their first ever modified after defeating DPS Plastic Tamil Pasanga in a tight final match at the Achimota Cricket Oval A on Sunday, June 1, 2025.
Co-title sponsored by Lenovo with support from the Ghana Cricket Association, the 4 groups of 3 1-day tournament saw 2 clubs qualifying quarter-finals.
DPS Plastic Tamil Pasanga qualified from Group A alongside Salt n’ Pepper, while Kaneshie Knight Riders lost all 2 matches.
Accra Titans topped group B and was with Panjab Warriors into the last 8, with Ginny Super Giants missing out.
In Group C, Defenders XI and Royal Stars Tema Champions United into the quarters, whereas Gujarat Tridents and Devnik United had the better of Shaheen’s Game Changers in Group D.
In the knockout, finalist DPS Plastic Tamil Pasanga raped Panjab Warriors with a 53 runs victory, after 79/3 and 27/7 to book the first semi-final slot. Devnik, lost by 7 wickets to Defenders 11 in a tight match on Oval B. Devnik scored 38/7 and Defenders scored 41/3 in 3.2 overs.
The 3rd quarter final saw champions Accra Titans hitting boundaries to beat Salt n Pepper by 20 runs, after 60/6 and 40/7. Hard-hitting Royal Stars Tema limited Gujarat Tridents to 50/4 and scored 51/1 in 3.4 overs to win by 7 wickets in the last quarter-final.
The intense 1-day which is also geared at raising funds to support kids’ education, clean the beaches, and implement other projects by Rotary Club saw sponsors like Securisk, Dunamis Shipping and Logistics, Kodak Paints, Fly Dreams Travels, Liquor Junction, Ginny, Fizzy, Chilliji Restaurant, Belaqua, Rajini Super Market, the Master Cut, and Suncity Hotel.
DPS Plastic Tamil Pasanga, had no time to waste and defended their 59/4 score in the first innings, limiting Defenders to 44/8 to win by 15 runs in the first semis.
A semi-final never to forget was that of Accra Titans vs Royal Stars Tema, as the champions we limited in the first innings, scoring 36/7. Knowing how good boundary hitters for Royal Stars were, Accra Titans got the better of the Royals and kept getting wickets, with the like of Kapil, Kaka, Logan. Royal Stars managed 24/9 in 5 overs, while Accra Titans cruised to the final with joy with a 12 runs victory.
The final showdown saw a combination of great bowlers for Accra Titans, from Logan, to Sanjay, Kapil Jangir, Kapil Butola and Vishal Barot limited DPS Plastic Tamil Pasanga to 46/5, while taking big wickets, like Raman Madhu, Sam Michael Merbin, Arumugam Venkatesh and Dilip Fab.
Accra Titans, sacrificing Bholu Patel, achieved the target in the second innings, scoring 50/1 in 3.3 overs to win by 9 wickets.
While captain of DPS, Sam Michael Merbin believes their early wickets caused them and praised Accra Titans for a good game, Dinesh Butola, the winning captain says they have built the team for a while now and pushed for this glory.
Player of the Tournament went to DPS’ Raman Madhu, who got 16.60 points, while he grabbed the Best Fielder accolade as well, with 8 dismissals. Best Bowler was to Kapil Singh Butola, while best batter accolade went to Bholu Patel of Accra Titans.
There is more 5-over Cricket being organised by the Indian community who cannot just stop playing Cricket.
By: Davis Nii Attuquaye Clottey
