Danube Lions retain Summer Indoor Tournament title at the ICC Academy

The Danube Lions roared again beating SFS by 52 runs to secure back-to-back Summer Indoor Tournament titles at the state-of-the-art facilities of the ICC Academy at Dubai Sports City.
 
The Lions side suffocated its Grand Final opponent, restricting SFS to a total of 18, and that was never going to be enough to test a team schooled in big match success.
 
Danube cruised home, finishing with a total of 70 to seal victory with plenty to spare.
 
The match was the culmination of another superb tournament with 16 sides doing battle for a total of Dh5,000 in prize money and the trophy, supplied by Crystal Gallery.
 
For SFS, the writing was on the wall when, after a promising beginning that yielded a total of 31 at the halfway stage of its innings, wickets began to tumble.
 
Matches in the Summer Indoor Tournament were eight-a-side with each innings lasting 12 overs.

Players batted in pairs, each for three overs, with a team losing five runs every time a wicket fell.
 
A total of eight wickets went down in the last six overs of SFS’s innings, and that prevented it from posting a challenging score.
 
The evening was completed for the Danube Lions with the news that one of its players, Mendis, was named player of the match for an excellent all-round contribution that saw him score 15 and take two wickets for minus two runs.
 
Reflecting on the Grand Final and the tournament as a whole, ICC Academy Head of Development Mudassar Nazar, the former Pakistan all-rounder, said: “Congratulations to Danube Lions for a superb display once again.
 
“Danube went through the entire tournament unbeaten and its players have once again set a standard that other teams must aspire to.
 
“SFS can draw great encouragement from the performance of its players too and it has been a superb event and one that has been a credit to all the players involved.
 
“The standard of indoor cricket in the UAE is going up and up and we look forward to further events in the future.”
 
ICC Academy Manager Will Kitchen added: “The Summer Indoor Tournament has once again been a fantastic spectacle and one which the players have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in.
 
“They have enjoyed the fact that, despite the high temperatures outside, they have world-class facilities indoors in which to go about their business.
 
“That is something we are extremely proud of at the ICC Academy, that we can provide top-class cricket to people whoever they may be, club cricketers or global stars, right through the year and the Summer Indoor Tournament has been yet another illustration of that fact.
 
“The ICC Academy is unquestionably the premier indoor cricket venue in the UAE with its large playing area and superb atmosphere that is created when the lights are on.”
 
Anyone interested in getting more information about the ICC Academy can call +971 4 448 1355, email info@iccacademy.net or can visit the ICC Academy website at www.iccacademy.net.

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