Sharjah: Al Faraa Cricket Club wrote a new chapter in the history of UAE’s oldest cricket tournament by emerging as the first team from Al Ain to win the 41st edition of the Bukhatir League at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. They pulled off a thrilling one-wicket victory over Danube Lions on Monday.
The final was filled with drama with Al Faraa chasing Danube’s impressive total of 277 for 8 in 50 overs. Speaking to Gulf News, Chetan Kanasara, the captain of Al Faraa who batted with a broken finger as the last man, said: “It was a tough chase and I went out to bat with five more runs needed. Hafeez-Ur Rehman and I saw the team past the target in 48.5 overs. We have shocked teams from other emirates who regularly win this tournament.”
Danube posted the huge total through in-form Asif Iqbal’s 88 runs. Al Faraa’s 21-year-old pacer bowled brilliantly to check the run flow bagging 4 for 61.
Hiren Kanasara, manager of the Al Faraa team, attributed the victory to players’ determination and said: “We had lost three quarterfinal matches this year. We had lifted the Abu Dhabi UAE Exchange Cup in 2013 but never won in any other emirates. Just before the final we had lost in the final of the Atlas 25 over tournament in Abu Dhabi and hence our players had vowed to win the Bukhatir League. Our next aim is to win tournaments in Dubai and Ajman to prove that we can win in all emirates.”
The architect of Al Faraa’s spectacular chase was Naveed Sarwar from Pakistan, who hit 98 runs off 90 deliveries with five boundaries and five sixes. “Sarwar is a future star for Pakistan national team and he showed what a fine batsmen he is through this knock,” said the captain. It was Sarwar’s partnership with Faisal Baig (71) that put on 140 runs for the third wicket that set the stage for the chase. Zahoor Khan of Danube tried his best to stop Al Faraa batsmen by bagging four wickets for 71 runs but his effort went in vain. Al Faraa received the trophy and Dh25,000 while runners up Danube had to be content with Dh15,000.
“The fact that an Al Ain team won this tournament breaking the monopoly of teams from other emirates shows that cricket is spreading fast all over UAE,” said Mazhar Khan, the secretary of the Sharjah Cricket Council, the tournament organisers.
