La Manga Tour August 2026

Three games, three wins. The summer break ended in style at the La Manga Cricket and Golf Resort with a T20 double-header on Saturday and the 40-over main event on Sunday.

Saturday — T20 Game 1

The summer break finally came to an end as we made our way down to the La Manga Cricket and Golf Resort for Saturday's T20 double-header. Things didn't start strictly to plan off the pitch — a slightly late arrival on our part meant we forfeited the toss by default, allowing La Manga skipper Kieran Wood to eagerly elect to bat first.

Once out in the middle, our bowling attack quickly found its groove, despite us starting with only 9 players. Burhan Ejaz and Shriram Bhosale set early traps before Zeeshan Dildar was too quick for them, taking 2 for 5 from his 4 overs. Umer Razi had a sensational morning in the field, holding onto three catches before taking the ball himself to post astonishing figures of 2 for 2 (including a maiden) in his 2 overs. Vishesh Gajjar (2/10) and Anish Shindore (1/11) kept the squeeze on, leaving La Manga's lineup in real trouble. However, our radar proved somewhat generous — a staggering 62 extras (including 48 wides) accounted for over half their total, helping them scrape together 121/9 from their 20 overs.

Chasing 122, our innings got off to a bumpy start. Rahul Maini removed both Jayden Clark (3) and Ujjwal Anand (8) to leave us wobbling at 21/2. Damien McMullen (17) stepped up to help rebuild, but the man of the match was undoubtedly Umer Razi. Carrying his fielding form into his batting, Umer anchored the chase with a brilliant, unbeaten 49 off 39 balls.

With 44 runs still needed late in the game, Umer and Burhan Ejaz (17* off 11) launched a counter-attack against La Manga's change bowlers, taking 44 runs off less than 4 overs. We sauntered past the target to finish on 124/3 in 17.5 overs, securing a comfortable 7-wicket victory. A slightly heartbreaking single run short of a half-century for Umer, but a brilliant start to the tour!

Saturday — T20 Game 2

After a quick lunch break, Game 2 got underway under the afternoon sun. With no way we could forfeit the toss again, skipper Shriram won the toss cleanly and promptly sent La Manga in to bat again.

The skipper set the tone immediately, delivering a masterclass with the new ball. He kicked off the innings with a wicket maiden, shattering Johnny Kinsella's stumps on the sixth ball after five wild swings. He was back at it in his second over to bowl Paul Harvey for a duck, before returning to clean up La Manga skipper Kieran Wood for 12. With outstanding figures of 3 for 14 from his four overs, Shriram had LMTCC reeling early. However, a resilient 70-run stand between Gopi Singh (44) and debutant Akshay (41*) helped steady their ship, dragging La Manga to a respectable total of 152/6 from their 20 overs.

Needing 153 to secure a Saturday sweep, our chase was made considerably easier as La Manga found themselves down to just nine fielders due to early departures. With massive gaps out on the spacious resort outfield, our top order didn't even need to clear the rope to keep the scoreboard ticking, happily running La Manga ragged with plenty of twos.

Zeeshan Dildar (5) fell early and Shriram chipped in with a seven-ball 22, but the chase belonged entirely to Jayden Clark and Damien McMullen. The pair produced a clinical, entertaining partnership, punishing anything loose and effortlessly finding the deep gaps. Both batters brought up brilliant unbeaten half-centuries with Jayden finishing on 54* off 42 balls and Damo blasting a rapid 54* off just 32.

We sauntered to 153/2 in the 16th over, sealing an emphatic eight-wicket victory with four full overs to spare. With two wins out of two locked in on Saturday, we headed off to our villa for a team barbecue, followed by a 2am trip to McDonald's!

Sunday — 40-Over Match

After winning both the T20 games on Saturday, we returned to the La Manga Cricket and Golf Resort for Sunday's 40-over main event. La Manga won the toss and opted to bat first on their home deck, but our bowling attack was quickly up to the task.

Shriram Bhosale set a miserly tone early on (0/10 off 4), before Saurabh Sathyashankar and Zeeshan Dildar claimed initial breakthroughs. The rest of the innings, however, belonged entirely to Burhan Ejaz, along with a bit of controversy. Burhan ripped through the La Manga middle- and lower-order in a devastating spell, but in the heat of the action, the umpires and scorers miscalculated his tally of overs. With him one short of a 5fer, he asked the umpire how many overs he had bowled and was told seven. By the time the scorers realised the mistake, he had already claimed his fifth wicket before finishing with unbelievable figures of 6 for 18 off 8.4 overs. Despite the light-hearted boundary-line banter over his extended workload, the scorecard stood. Supported by a sharp direct-hit run-out from Ujjwal Anand to dismiss top-scorer R Nell (43), we bundled La Manga out for 146 in 37.4 overs.

Chasing 147, we made sure to keep the afternoon dramatic. Jayden Clark was caught short for 1 after some confusion whilst running, and after Ujjwal (24) fell caught-and-bowled to Tirth Singh, our middle order suffered a classic wobble. Anish Shindore, Umer Razi, James Bentley, and Damien McMullen were all back in the shed in quick succession as LMTCC's bowlers seized control, leaving us wobbling at 88/6. Step up debutant Saurabh Sathyashankar. Saurabh played a proper match-winning knock, smashing a brilliant 59 not out off 52 balls, decorated with eight boundaries and two maximums. He found the perfect partner in Burhan, who capped off his memorable day by chipping in with a cool 22 not out (hogging the strike to make sure he hit the winning runs). Their unbroken 59-run stand saw us saunter past the target to finish on 147/6 in 24.2 overs, wrapping up a 4-wicket victory and pocketing 19 out of the possible 20 points.

It was another fantastic day of cricket against a wonderfully hospitable host side. We stayed for a few drinks before heading back to Cartagena, though next time we might buy the umpires and scorers a clicker to keep Burhan's overs in check!