Sharjah: The UAE’s two most prominent tournaments took off with the 39th edition of the Bukhatir League A division tournament commencing at Sharjah Cricket Stadium under the auspices of the Sharjah Cricket Council and Dubai Cricket Council’s Elite Cup starting at the FairGrounds Oval in Dubai Men’s College.
Debutants Danube Lions hogged the limelight in Dubai and Sharjah through emphatic victories over established teams to prove that they are ones to watch during the new season.
In the Bukhatir League, Danube beat Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) Green by 41 runs through Prashanth Bragg’s breezy knock of 44 from 30 balls with three boundaries and four sixes. This knock helped Danube post an impressive 267 runs. ECB Green could muster only 226 runs despite school boys Shorye Chopra hitting 60 runs and Chirag Suri chipping in with 34 runs. UAE allrounder Rohan Mustafa was at his best again with a spell of 3 for 46 backed by Asif Iqbal and Vikrant Shetty bagging two wickets each. Shetty also sparkled with the bat scoring 24 runs.
In Dubai, Danube stopped the star studded New Medical Centre mainly due to Shetty’s 41 runs and Bragg’s 40 runs to post a mammoth 271 runs. Shetty went on to bag four wickets for 35 runs too and was named as man of the match.
The Elite Cup also saw Phoenix Medicine team, fresh from their championship triumph in the Gulf Super Sixes victory, defeat Seven Seas Strikers by four wickets.
Even in the Super Sixes final, Phoenix had beaten Seven Seas to win the title. Though Seven Seas posted 219 runs through half centuries from Gulam Shabbir and Mohammad Illyas, Phoenix reached the target in 41.4 overs. The hero of their chase was Fahad Ansari with a knock of 72 runs.
Though NMC lost to Danube, they regained their form against United Bank Limited in the Bukhatir League by recording a four wicket win. Though UBL’s Imran Maqsood cracked a century to help his team post 252 runs, NMC reached the target in 43.2 overs through Ashan Ali’s 71 runs and Sandeep Shetty’s unbeaten 49.
