GAIRO District Council Boys' cricketers have thrillingly concluded their participation in trials for this year's National Inter-Primary Schools Sports (Umitashumta) competitions, trouncing Morogoro Municipal Boys by eight wickets in Morogoro recently.

The tie's outcome had witnessed Gairo District Council Boys stretch their impressive spell in the trials, having also triumphed over Morogoro Municipal Boys in the opening tie.

In the closing tie, played at the SUA ground, Morogoro Municipal Boys garnered 71/9 in 20 overs once they took the crease first.

Ashrafu Hassan became the cricketer with a meaningful showing for the team, nailing 18 runs.

He was ultimately the only batsman who ended the innings with two digits, whereas fellow cricketers faltered when batting.

Thirty extra runs given away by Gairo District Council Boys had Morogoro Municipal Boys completing their innings with a respectable score.

Gairo District Council Boys' bowlers, Stanford Andason and Twaha Juma, successfully kept Morogoro Municipal Boys in check with a solid bowling.

Stanford boasted a stellar display, which ended with the cricketer racking up 3-12, and Juma piled misery on Morogoro Municipal Boys with his two wickets.

Gairo District Council Boys mounted a successful chase of the modest target, scoring 73/2 in 11.3 overs.

Gibson Mkuelth and Prosod Simon stole the limelight during the team's turn with the bat, solidly catapulting their side to the win.

Mkuelth completed the innings with an impressive figure of 16 runs not out, garnered at a strike rate of 69.57.

Simon was equally merciless, grabbing 14 runs for the eventual winners.

In the opening clash involving the two teams, Gairo District Council Boys comprehensively beat Morogoro Municipal Boys by 120 runs.

Gairo District Council Boys put their batting superiority to show, posting 161/6 in the scheduled 20 overs once they took the crease first.

Chasing 162 runs from 20 overs to emerge victorious turned out to be a daunting task, once Morogoro Municipal Boys took the crease, having notched 41/10 in 144.5 overs.

The Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA)-organized Umitashumta Trials involved junior cricketers from Gairo District and Morogoro Town.

The trials, as per a TCA officer, aimed at scouting and selecting the best players from across Morogoro to represent the region in the Umitashumta games at the national level in Iringa in June.

He noted that the event was officially opened by the Morogoro Sports Officer, who inspired the participants to compete with passion, unity, and purpose.

The trials featured both boys’ and girls’ teams from the two centres, the TCA official revealed, adding that the level of cricket displayed was a testament to the rising standards of school cricket in Tanzania.

Upon the trials' completion, selectors will pick the top-performing players from both centres to form a strong regional boys’ and girls’ team that will proudly represent Morogoro in Iringa.

The association expressed its appreciation to all coaches, officials, and supporters for making the trials a success.