Dubai: A former Hyderabad state schools' cricketer, who is studying in Dubai, cracked a whirlwind century in the Dulsco Ramadan cricket tournament at the Zabeel Park.
Anirudh Sompalli, a 19-year-old engineering student at the Bits Pilani College, hit 107 runs off just 42 balls to guide ETA Ascon Star to an emphatic 239-run win over HSBC B.
His innings included seven fours and 11 sixes.
"Sompalli loves to go for his shots and from the moment he reaches the crease he aims for the boundaries.
"It is hard to tell him to restrain his shots," said Farooq Aliyar, captain of the ETA team.
Right-handed opener Sompalli and Tanveer, who hit an unbeaten 85, along with Khurram, who scored 56, thrashed the HSBC B bowlers to pile up 317 for 6.
"This is the highest score at the Zabeel Park ground in a Twenty20 match," said organiser Shaik Rafik, who has been instrumental in transforming the ground into a popular cricket venue in Dubai.
HSBC B, reeling under the pressure of the huge score, were bowled out for just 78.
Last season, Sompalli hit 163 off just 53 balls in the Umm Al Quwain tournament.
Meanwhile, one of the most exciting matches of the tournament so far was between Danube and AGE Group.
Although they were bowled out for 95 thanks to a deadly four wickets spell from Nazeer, AGE Group fought back. Danube won the match by one wicket in a nail-biting finish.
Tremendous strength
Meanwhile, Active IT Distribution displayed their tremendous strength against ECMIT.
Active IT piled up 167 through Ashraf's 61 and Hamid's 36 then went on to bowl out ECMIT for just 65 runs in 17 overs.
The chief destroyers of the ECMIT innings were Saqib and Shafi, who picked up three wickets each while Mubashir chipped in with two scalps.
So strong was their bowling that only ECMIT's Saqib managed to reach double figures but only just as he scored ten runs.
In another match, Fedex beat Arowana Club by five wickets in a one-sided affair. Batting first, Arowana could post only 101 for 6. Pawan and Yashir took two wickets each.
The experienced Fedex team reached the target in just 15.5 overs. Pawan sparkled with the bat too and scored an unbeaten 29 while their star batsman Jarnail Singh chipped in with 19 runs.
Fahad took two wickets but could not contain the strong Fedex batsmen.
Bilal Murtaza, one of the most prolific scorers in domestic cricket, scored 57 to guide Jotun Paints to a 49-run victory over HSBC A.
