Despite temperatures not far above freezing, and heavy rain, six teams (national champions Bulgarian CC, national runners up Medical University Sofia, National Sports Academy, Technical University Varna, Transport University Sofia, and Blagoevgrad) turned out for Bulgaria's MobiCom Cup on Saturday 18 October.

Photo © ECC

The opening match was played between Bulgarian CC and Technical University Varna, with by Her Excellency Mrs Anli von Maltitz, the South African Ambassador officially getting proceedings under way. The match was 20 overs. T U won the toss and invited Bulgarian CC to bat first. BCC's openers (Hanif, 7, and Arshad, 20) were less than pleased with their respective performances, but Mumtaz Hira batted well, hitting 9 sixes and 9 fours on his way to the first century of the tournament. BCC eventually made 209 for 4 off their 20 overs, despite some good fielding from TU Varna. This was a daunting target for the latter, who were all out for 69 (Vasko, 28, Bobby, 11, Plamen, 10), leaving BCC winners by 140 runs.

Medical University Sofia then took on National Sports Academy. The medics won the toss and put NSA in to bat. NSA Sofia were all out for 62 runs after 16 overs, a target which the medical students reached after 8 overs, running out winners by 8 wickets.

The match between the new teams ñ Transport University Sofia and Blageovgrad - was very good. TU won the toss and put Blagoevgrad in to bat. The Blagoevgrad opener Crasee played very well, making 32 not out. Nikee also made a solid 15 runs, and Blagoevgrad, finished on 92 all out off 18 overs and all. The TU openers struggled, and were both out with only 3 runs on the board, and despite a good innings from Stefan (22), a number of run-outs saw TU all out for 63 after 11 overs, handing Blagoevgrad a 29-run victory.

The final, between BCC and Medical University Sofia, was played on the Sunday, although the start was delayed until 2pm by heavy rain. Even once the rain had stopped, the players had to take to the field in freezing temperatures. The match was to have been 30 overs, but in view of the weather and the time already lost, this was reduced to 20. Medical University Sofia won the toss and put BCC in to bat. Opening batsman Hanif put his disappointing 7 from the previous match behind him as he worked his way to 51, with 8 boundaries and 1 six. The heavens opened again with Saif on 33 and Nabeel on 21, and BCC on 149 for 4 after 16.3 overs, and brought proceedings to a halt for another hour. When play recommenced, the medics went straight in to bat, with a target of 150 off 16.3 overs to win. Their openers started well, with Manish making 32 and Deepak making 36, and it looked as though the match was slipping away from BCC. BCC raised their game, however, and managed to bowl the medics out for 130, giving them a 7-wicket victory.

Thanks to Nikoly Kolev (National Sports Academy Sofia) and Anli von Maltitz (South African Embassy) for their support, and to Tim Buisseret and MobiCom for sponsoring the event.