Mohsin the star of South Asian derbies on World Final opening day

 The spirit of bonhomie was strong between the Red Bull Campus Cricket representatives from Pakistan and India, whose match on the opening day of the World Final was marked by good feeling, before the players posed together for a photograph.

Jinnah Government College Nazimabad, Karachi (JGCN) cruised to a thumping seven-wicket victory over Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Commerce, Pune (MMCC College) – and that match was reminiscent of the highest profile cricket match this year: the Champions Trophy final. Just as had been the case in London, Pakistan again skittled India for a low score, thanks in part to the bowling of Hasan Mohsin, who took 4 for 21 from 3.1 overs. He sent MMMC College hurtling to their eventual score of 81. They were all out in the 17th over despite two straightforward catches going down. JGCN chased down the total with seven wickets spare.

In the other South Asian clash on day one, Sri Lanka’s college team remained ascendant over their Bangladesh counterparts, in what was a replay of last year’s Red Bull Campus Cricket title match. The winning margin on this occasion was a whopping 47 runs. 

As had been the case in 2016, BMS were again substantially bolstered by the presence of an international-quality cricketer. Amila Aponso, who had had an outstanding maiden series against Australia last year, claimed 3 wickets for 18 runs, in his team’s defence of 188 for 7. His opening over, which brought two wickets, cut short an impressive 57-run stand between ULAB openers Asir Intesar (16) and Jasim Uddin (32), was the turning point of the chase. The ULAB innings could not gain any momentum after that, and the team eventually limped to 141 for 7.

In the other two matches, Northwest University (NWU), South Africa suffocated the University of Sydney innings with their spin, while Herriott Watt University, the UAE eased past World Final first-timers National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Zimbabwe. For NWU off spinner Ruaan Haasbroek and leg spinner Dyllan Matthews claimed three wickets apiece, scuttled the opposition innings after Sydney had made a rapid start. NWU eventually chased down the target of 158 in the 18th over, with six wickets to spare.

Spin-bowling was also crucial to Herriott Watt’s victory. Their leg spinners Rahul Bhatia and Ronak Khandelwal took two wickets each as NUST stumbled to 96 all out – both those players also having played important roles with the bat, as Herriott Watt to propel Herriott Watt to 149 for 5.