Al Dhaid: Phoenix Medicine emerged as the champions of the sixth Al Dhaid Ramadan tournament after defeating Yogi Group by six wickets in the final, which was a clash of the cream of the UAE’s top domestic cricketers.
The teams, armed with many UAE national team players, fought hard from the start at the Al Dhaid Cricket Village in the tournament organised by Sharjah Cricket Council.
Batting first, Yogi Group posted a challenging 153 for 5 in 20 overs through UAE’s star middle-order batsman Swapnil Patil’s unbeaten 54 off just 39 deliveries, with four boundaries and two sixes.
The UAE’s strike bowler Rohan Mustafa kept the run flow of the Yogi Group in check with a spell of three wickets for 34 runs.
Yogi Group had lost two quick wickets before their star player Salman Faris (21) and Swapnil Salvi (23) steadied the innings. Anakit Desai and Avadoot Amonkar chipped in with short knocks of 18 and an unbeaten 15 respectively.
Mustafa followed up his fine bowling performance with a knock of 35 off just 25 balls. His 98 runs partnership for the first wicket with Mohammad Qasim upset Yogi Group’s plan for early wickets. Qasim went on to hit 70 off just 44 balls, with five hits to the boundary and three sixes.
The Phoenix team were in superb form last year, lifting the Gulf Super Sixes, Bukhatir A Division title and Dollar Rent A Car T10 Cup. Incidentally, Yogi Group had emerged as the Dubai Cricket Council Ramadan tournament champions last year defeating Phoenix by 51 runs in the final.
