Brothers Union beat Chittagong to lift the title
Skipper Iqbal had announced that his team would win the tournament
Sharjah: Brothers Union Club once again proved to be a champion team. They beat Chittagong Tigers by three wickets to retain the PCL T20 Bashundhara Cup in the final at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Brothers Union skipper Nafees Iqbal, immediately on arrival for the tournament, had announced that despite being played on foreign soil this year, his team would win the tournament.
In 2009, Brothers Union had defeated Dhaka Sports Club by six wickets in front of over 40,000 spectators at the MA Aziz Stadium in Bangladesh.
Brothers Union displayed their batting and bowling strength in Sharjah despite Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, who was expected to play for them, pulling out at the last moment.
Chittagong Tigers posted 129 for 7 through Shamsu Rahman's brilliant knock of 51 runs off 39 balls with two four and three sixes. He dominated the knock so much that the second top scorer was Lou Vincent, who hit 14 runs. The only other batsman to reach double figures was Ariful Haq, who hit 12 runs.
Good bowling
Tigers could have posted a bigger total but for Abdur Razzak who picked three wickets for 16 runs.
Brothers Union chased the target through Pakistan allrounder Azhar Mahmoud. He hit 26 off 18 balls, while Tushar Imran hit a run a ball 21.
J Seddiqi too chipped in with 17 runs. Though wickets kept falling, Zia Ur Rahman, with an unbeaten 17, and Mohammad Rafiq, with an unbeaten 14 runs, helped Brothers Union reach the target with two balls to spare.
Razzak was adjudged man of the match for his three-wicket spell, which contained the Tigers' run flow.
Imran Nazir of Brothers Union, who had played some brilliant knocks in the tournament, bagged the best batsman and the player of the tournament awards. Razzak won the best bowler award.
