NMC off to winning start in Al Dhaid Gold Cup

Sharjah: Niresh Fernando smashed a brilliant half-century to guide New Medical Centre to a convincing nine-wicket victory over Emirates Islamic Bank in the opening match of the first Al Dhaid Gold Cup at the Al Dhaid cricket ground.

Fernando cracked a tidy unbeaten 51 while Ishan Ali made an unbeaten 38 as NMC overhauled Emirates Islamic Bank's modest total of 129 in just 21.3 overs. The tournament follows the 40-over-a-side format.

Brief scores:

Al Dhaid Gold Cup (40 overs a side):

NMC beat Emirates Islamic Bank by nine wickets. EIB 129 all out in 35.1 overs (Usman 16, Faizan 49, Ashraf Gul 16, Naeem Khan 15; Saqib 2-15, Dhamanjay 2-34, Atif Ejaz 4-23, Ishan Ali 2-7) NMC 133 for one in 21.3 overs (Indika Sampath 33, Niresh Fernando 51 not out, Ishan Ali 38 not out; Afzal 3-14, Waqas 2-10). Man of the match: Niresh Fernando of NMC.

Sharjah Invitation Tournament (20 overs a side):

Ibsons beat Lanka Lions by eight wickets: Lanka Lions 145 for nine (Kelum 43, Gyan 27, Eranga 25, Indika 15; Fiaz 5-31, Masood 3-16) Ibsons 147 for two in 15.2 overs (Israr Butt 37, Baber Malek 53, Samiullah 27, Irfan 14 not out, Amir 11 not out). Man of the match: Fayyaz Ahmad of Ibsons.

Eurocon beat Tellicherry by six wickets: Tellicherry 172 for eight (Gopal 15, Nasir 35, Sunil 26, Mashood 28, Nadeem 30 not out; Mohammad Azam 3-27, Safdar 2-33) Eurocon 176 for four in 15.5 overs (Jarnail 37, Bakhtiyar 62, Haris 30; Anees 2-19). Man of the match: Mohammad Azam of Eurocon.

CSS Group beat Transgulf by 116 runs: CSS 233 for seven (Shaiman 64, Hareesh 34, Atiq Ahmad 36, Naeemullah 45, Imran 22; Dale 2-45, Muthukkulai 4-42) Transgulf 117-6 (Esmail 46, Asif 21, Muthukkulai 13 not out; Rizwan 2-22). Man of the match: Shaiman Anver of CSS.

Universal Steel beat Khatri CC by six wickets: Khatri 159 all out in 19.5 overs(Anil 17, Javed 40, Salman 39, Adnan 21, Irfan 13; Ajit 2-25, Firoz 2-26, Hari 3-30) Universal Steel 164 for four in 16.2 overs (Ebrahim 68, Jayapraksh 63). Man of the match: Jayapraksh of Universal Steel.

AJ Invitation Tournament (20 overs a side):

Al Barrack beat Baker Hughes by 135 runs: Al Barrack 198 for eight (Abdullah 54, Burhan 23, Farook 26 not out, Fahad 26; Ashiq 2-37, Mansoor 2-34, Nelson 2-24) Baker Hughes 63 all out in 10.3 overs (Ashique 23, Mansoor 20; Afzal 3-14, Waqas 2-10). Man of the match: Abdullah of Al Barrack.

ECT Sharjah beat GCAI by seven wickets: GCAI. 108 in 18.4 overs (Shani 16, Wajahat 28, Saleem 11; Waleed 2-11, Mukhtar 2-13) ECT Sharjah 109 for three in 15.5 overs (Azhar 47, Shahid 52; Haroon 2-16). Man of the match: Shahid of E.C.T.Sharjah.

Mahek CC beat UAE Nationals by 42 runs: Mahek CC 187 for seven in 20 overs (Nayyar 31, Rohit 34, Arif 39, Hitesh 20 not out, Rajesh 20 not out; Farooq 2-40, Salim 2-21) UAE Nationals 145 for nine in 20 overs (Alawi 30, Salman 20, Sultan 24, Kumar 25; Yash 2-17, Santosh 2-36, Vinay 2-23). Man of the match: Arif Arai of Maher CC.