Imphal, December 20 2009: Re Young Stars (REYS) topped Group B winning their last league match against CYCLONE by 8 runs today to become the second team to enter the semifinals stage in the ongoing 1st Heritage Cup, T20 cricket tournament at Luwanpokpa Cricket Ground.

A major highlight of today's match was a half century by L Roshan of CYCLONE, the first player to do so in this tournament.

But his effort was not enough to save his team from defeat.

Batting first after winning the toss, REYS posted 123 for the loss of 6 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

Shahadat at the top of the order was the mainstay of the REYS innings with a well-struck 36 from 33 balls which included 5 hits to the fence.

Substantial contributions also came from the bat of Ng Shashikanta (22 off 32) and Mujibur (23 off 16) .

With 53 runs on the board for the loss of just 1 wicket at the half way mark, REYS were comfortably placed and looked set for a good score.

But then wickets started to tumble just when they were in a perfect position to launch the onslaught, eventually putting up 123 for the loss of 6 wickets.

CYCLONE reply did not inspire any confidence among its supporter as 3 wickets fell in quick succession for a paltry score of 27 runs.

But L Roshan who batted brilliantly scoring 50 runs off 52 balls in the company Akshay (18 off 24) not only steadied the rocking CYCLONE innings but also raised hopes of a possible win.

But Akshay's dismissal proved to the turning point of the match as none of the other batsmen who followed failed to lend support to L Roshan and the CYCLONE run chase fell short of the target by 9 runs.

L Roshan received a special cash award of Rs 500/- from Kh Nandakishore, treasurer, UCC for becoming the first batsman to score a half- century.

Shahadat was declared the Man of the Match and he received a cash award of Rs 1000/- from Dr.A Vivekananda of Padma Care Medicals.

Shahadat while talking to reporters revealed that even though he did take some time to settle down the moment he hit his first four he grew in confidence and knew instinctively that he will be able to contribute a good score to his team's tally.

He also thanked the organizers for giving him and his fellow cricketer this opportunity to compete in a T20 tournament for the first time in Manipur.

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