Khurshid wins it for Gymkhana

Abu Dhabi: Asim Khurshid (64) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana, who registered a last-ball win over the fancied Eurocon Alubond in the semifinal of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council's Fortune Ramadan Cup Twenty20 event.

Meeting them in tomorrow's final will be the UAE Exhange Centre who also put it across another fancied side, Atlas Telecom in the second semifinal.

But it was the Gymkhana-Eurocon encounter that set the Zayed Cricket Stadium alive with a fantastic finish.

Batting first, the Dubai giants could only manage 157, thanks mainly to Jarnail Singh (42) and Rizwan Ahmad (48).

Needing 158 for a place in the final, Gymkhana were in deep trouble at 17 for four and then 63 for seven. Eurocon's Sri Lankan stars Ruchira Pereira, Hasantha Fernando and Gayan Wijekoon claimed five wickets between them and the visitors looked headed for a win until Asim Khurshid stepped in.

Joined by Mohammad Rehan, Khurshid suddenly started his big hitting. With three overs to go, Nazir Aziz was the bowler and Khurshid struck two sixes off successive balls and then crossed over for a single. Rehan took a single off the fourth ball and Khurshid belted two more sixes to tally 26 runs off the hapless bowler.

An all-round display by UAE captain Saqib Ali helped UAE Exchange Centre to upset Atlas Telecom, who were the only team to remain unbeaten in the competition.

Scores

Eurocon Alubond: 157 all out in 19.3 overs (Jarnail Singh 42, Rizwan Ahmad 48, Ameen Mujtaba 29, Irfan Haider 2-31, Mohammad Rehan 4-22) William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana: 158 for 8 in 20 overs (Asim Khurshid 64 not out, Mohammad Rehan 29, Hasantha Fernando 3-26, Mohammad Azam 2-23).

Atlas Telecom: 128 for 9 in 20 overs (Raheel Ishtiaque 37, Fayyaz Ahmad 30, Mudasar Ali 21, Saqib Ali 2-19) UAE Exchange Centre: 130 for 3 in 16 overs (Indika Sampath 38, Ihsan Ali 20, Saqib Ali 46 not out).