Match 1: Vesturbæer Volcanos (97/6 in 17.0 overs, Lee Nelson 60*, Avik Ghosh 14, Botha 3-8, Rehman 1-9) beat Kopavoger Puffins (96/5 in 20.0 overs, Jackob Robertson 29*, Keenan Botha 24, Anandgaonkar 4-34, Nagarajan 1-8)
SportZchain Man of the Match- Lee Nelson
Lee Nelson lightened up the gloomy opening day with an unbeaten half-century to help Volcanos complete a tricky chase against the Puffins. Puffins won the toss and decided to bat in a typical cloudy and windy Icelandic morning and immediately found it difficult to score in the powerplay overs. Both Ram Gujappan and Sampath Nagarajan were accurate and able to swing the new white ball both ways to restrict Puffins to 17/0 in the first six overs, conceding only one boundary. The first real intent to score faster was shown by Keenan Botha as he tried to hit Vaibhab Anandgaonkar out of the ground at least four times in the 8th over, succeeding twice. However, Anandgaonkar had the last laugh. First, he got Bala Kamallakharan out in the last ball before the break and then post-break changed the end to force Botha hit against the wind, getting him caught at long on. He also got two more wickets in the same over, leaving Puffins struggling at 53/4 after 13 overs. Jackob Robertson and Abhishek Chauhan then steadied the innings with quick singles and doubles but found it hard to hit boundaries. Chauhan perished in pursuit of big hits in the 18th over while Robertson was finally able to get some away, leading the score to 96/5 at the end of 20 overs.
Nelson and Mohit Kotian started well for Volcanos, racing to 14 runs in 2 overs. Although Rehman pinned Kotian in front of the stumps in the 3rd Over, Avik Ghosh joined Nelson to keep the runs flowing. Both were cautious against the pace and accurate line of Rehman and took advantage of the balls straying down the leg side from the other bowlers. They added 34 runs in 6 overs before Ghosh got out caught at the mid-off, trying to clear the infield. Nelson then added another 34 runs with Kathir Narayanan in next 4.4 overs, including 15 runs from the one over bowled by Shiva Maduri. Once Narayanan got out trying to heave David Cook out of the ground, Volcanos went through a familiar mini collapse as Botha sent down three accurate overs taking three wickets. However, Nelson was able to hold the fort at the other end and paced his innings perfectly to reach to the first half-century of the season in the 14th over. He stayed till the end, thanks to couple of crucial drops from the Puffins fielders, and fittingly ended the match in the 17th over with a boundary.
Nelson, Anandgaonkar and Botha were the key contenders for the SportZchain Man of the Match award and Nelson bagged it for his match winning fifty.
Match 2: Hafnarfjordur Hammers beat Reykjavik Vikings
Due to some unavoidable circumstances, Reykjavik Vikings team could not take the field and had to forfeit the match to the Hammers.
Standings as of Week 1
Fixtures list : https://www.krikket.is/matches
Live Telecast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IcelandCricket