Al Dhaid: Sharjah Cricket Council tournaments being held in Al Dhaid Cricket Village have produced a string of spectacular performances of late.
In the Sharjah Invitational T20 tournament, Ibsons Cricket Club’s Shahzad Malek hit an unbeaten century in just 48 balls. His knock of 102, which contained eight boundaries and five sixes, steered Ibsons to a 32-run victory over Al Fara’a Cricket Club.
In another match, Ayub Inayat produced a five-wicket haul to ensure a 98 runs victory for Phoenix Medicines over Al Farah Club. Inayat returned figures of 5 for 20 and bowled out Al Farah — who were chasing a target of 250 runs — for just 150 runs.
The sixth Al Dhaid Gold Cup too saw a fine bowling spell from Farhan and Ali Azmat. Farhan with a five-wicket spell for 19 runs was well backed up by Ali Azmat’s four wickets for 17 runs and bowled out Panthers for 93 runs. UAE Exchange came away with a 226-runs victory.
In another match of the Gold Cup, Naseeb Ullah’s century went in vain as Cost Cutter CC defeated Unicon Real Estate CC by two wickets. Ullah had put Unicon in a strong position scoring 100 from 106 deliveries. In reply, Cost Cutter got off to a superb start through openers Ansar Butt (23) and Ahsan (25) putting on a 53-run partnership. Abdur Rahman hit a fine 78 to put the result beyond doubt.
Brief scores:
Sharjah Invitational T20 tournament: Ibsons CC bt Al Fara’a CC by 32 runs. Ibsons: 220 for 4 in 20 overs (Faizan 21, Fayyaz 40, Shahzad 102n.o, Ajmal 2 for 55). Al Fara’a CC: 188 for 7 in 20 overs (Babar 60, Kaleem 34, Ajmal 31; Irfan 3 for 37, Fayyaz 2 for 27). Man of the match: Shahzad Malek
Phoenix Medicine bt Al Farah CC by 98 runs. Phoenix Medicine: 249 for 4 in 20 overs (Hafiz Kaleem 44, Fahad Ansari 23, Qasim 56, Adil Mirza 20, Ayub 43n., Pervaiz 35n.o; Tahzib 2 for 45). Al Farah: 151 in 15.4 overs (Ijaz Bashir 33, Azhar 54, Ayub Inayat 5 for 20, Adil 2 for 2). Man of the match: Ayub Inayat.
Al Dhaid Gold Cup: Cost Cutter CC bt Unicon Real Estate CC by two wickets. Unicon: 217 for 8 in 40 overs (Naseeb Ullah 100, Ebrahim Shaikh 24, Shahid 43, Ansar Butt 2 for 39, Farhan 2 for 42, Mahashir Syed 2 for 43). Cost Cutter: 220 for 8 in 35.3 overs (Ansar Butt 23, Ahsan 25, Abdur Rahman 78n.o, Sajjid 3 for 38, Saif 2 for 30). Man of the match: Abdur Rahman.
UAE Exchange bt Panthers CC by 132 runs. UAE Exchange: 225 for 7 in 40 overs (Imtiaz 79, Abid 21, M Usman 51, Farhan 32n.o; Widas 2 for 43). Panthers: 93 in 20 overs (Shahzaib 38; Farhan 5 for 19, Ali Azmat 4 for 17). Man of the match: Farhan