ACES B cricketers have expressed their determination to turn into serious contenders for the top honour in the TCA DC League 1 2025, commanding a four-wicket win over Specialized K&P A in Dar es Salaam last weekend.

It was the first victory for the Ajith Shetty-led Aces B, who had gotten off on the wrong foot following an eight-wicket loss to the other title challengers, Lions B, on August 10.

Scintillating showing with the bat by the opening batting duo of Ajith Shetty and Dev Mandania was crucial to Aces B's return to winning ways.

The cricketers made full use of their experience and ultimately had Aces B embarking on a solid chase of their opponents' figure.

The duel, which was somehow delayed by rain and consequently reduced to 15 overs, witnessed Specialized K&P A take the crease first, ending with 140/7 in the scheduled 15 overs. 

The outfit's opening batsman, Gurram Brahmin, played a special innings of 108 runs from 46 balls, nailing five sixes and 16 fours, ensuring the club wound up with a better score.

His innings had successfully masked a below-par outing that fellow opening performer, Nassoro Zahoro, had faced, having left the crease with just two runs.

Brahmin's impressive batting pushed Specialized K&P A to 136-5 when the performer returned to the pavilion in the 13th over.

Markundi Nagappa, also assigned as the top-order batsman, was the other cricketer with a meaningful contribution, given that the player scored 13 runs at a strike rate of 100.00.

A batting collapse, which came about after 14 overs, proved to be detrimental to Specialized K&P A's efforts to amass a bigger figure that could have somewhat given them motivation to repel Aces B's chase.

Venkateswararao Katru was five runs short of two digits in a vain attempt by Specialized K&P A to pile more runs in the face of a surge by Aces B's bowling unit.

Promising cricketer Hamza Ally and seasoned player Imran Khan put in stellar bowling performances, as Aces B managed to restrict Specialized K&P A to a manageable total.

Khan was the performer boasting great bowling figures, in which the cricketer posted 2-3 in his one over and consequently ended up with a 3.00 economy rate.

Ally's three overs saw the player end up with 2-14 and a 4.67 economy rate. The other seasoned player, Jatin Prajapati, and Krural Dalwadi took one wicket apiece for Aces B.

Aced B's bowling unit came back in the game during Specialized K&P A's last two overs, in which the former took three wickets and so far gave away four runs.

On reply, Aces B started strongly with skipper Shetty and Mandani having the club get off to a good start with a series of well-executed shots.

Aces B's determination to successfully reach the target was visible early on, with the club scoring 43 runs in the first three overs and, thereafter, never stopped and closed the game in just 13 overs.

Mandania, who was in the form of his life, took charge of the chase, hammering 49 runs, which included eight boundaries, whereas the fellow opener Shetty contributed 20 runs.

There were further noticeable efforts by Ally Hassan, who notched 25 runs, and Abdul Ramadhan, who garnered 17 runs not out, as the game was put to rest in 13 overs.

Team captain Lakshmikanth Sukavasi was the only bowler with a performance worth writing home about, when Specialized K&P A vainly battled to foil Aces B's batting attack, in which the player posted 2-26 in three overs.