Abu Dhabi: Rinku Singh, with a brilliant 94 off 60 deliveries, shot out UAE skipper Rohan Mustafa and One Stop Tourism (OST) to clinch the T20 Ramadan Cricket title for Alubond Tigers single-handedly at the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
This was Alubond Tigers’ fifth title in this tournament and third in a row.
Chasing 162 for a win, Alubond were straight away under the pump after losing their top three batsmen — Mohammad Qasim (1), Wajahat Butt (5) and Yassir Kaleem (5) cheaply.
However, Singh, who came in next, stood his ground and remained unfazed despite wickets falling all around him.
A noisy OST camp slowly went into mute mode once Singh started gaining in confidence after he kick-started the innings by going after Ahmed Raza.
Twenty runs were clobbered from the left-arm spinner Raza’s one over and thereafter it was Singh’s show all the way.
He fell six short of his century with the team still needing another eight from seven deliveries with three wickets in hand. However, Fayyaz Ahmed (19 not out off 11) and Sultan Ahmed (11 not out off 3) saw them home with four balls to spare.
Earlier, Hafiz Kaleem (32), Ghulam Shabbir (41) and Muhammad Usman (22) saw OST post a challenging total of 161 for 9. A useful contribution down the order also came from Shoaib Laghari (21). Asad Ullah Sharif was the pick of the bowlers for Alubond with 3 for 36, while Sultan Ahmed and Asif Mumtaz settled for two wickets apiece.
Alubond Tigers skipper Nasir Aziz said: “We have always done well here in Abu Dhabi. But today it was all about Singh and he has got us home on his own after we played some ordinary cricket at the start of the chase.”
Alubond, this season, have already won the Bukhatir Premier League title and finished runners-up in the Al Dhaid Gold Cup. They are already in the final of the Sharjah T20 tournament and entered the semis of the Ajman T20 tournament.
“It has been quite a good season for us. If we can add another title or two, it will be great. This victory will be a huge boost going into another final in a few days’ time,” said Aziz.
Brief Score: Alubond Tigers beat OST by three wickets. OST 161 for 9 in 20 overs (Hafiz Kaleem (32), Ghulam Shabbir (41), Muhammad Usman (22), Asad Ullah 3 for 36, Sultan Ahmed (2 for 28) and Asif Mumtaz (2 for 28) Alubond Tigers 165 for 7 in 19.2 overs (Rinku Singh 94, Fayyaz Ahmed 19 not out, Sultan Ahmed 11 not out, Taswar Ali Jammu 2 for 13).
