Dubai: Al Nabooda Insurance Brokers (ANIB) backed Kannur Royals emerged as the champions in the fourth edition of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) after an exciting three-wicket win over Filli Café’s Kasargod Superstars at The Sevens Stadium.
The fourth edition of this tournament launched by West Indies Test star Chris Gayle with prize money of Dh174,500 was contested by 16 teams.
Kasargod won the toss but were restricted to 120 for 8 mainly due to the deadly spell from Kannur’s pacer Zahoor Khan, who returned with figures of 6 for 15 in four overs. In fact, Kasargod had got off to a good start putting on 89 runs through openers Ashraf Butt’s 54 and N.A. Shihabudeen 28 before their batting crumbled to Khan’s spell.
Kannur reached the target in 18.5 overs to walk away with the winners’ prize of Dh75,000 while Kasargod received Dh45,000.
Speaking to Gulf News, S. Rajagopal, the owner of Kannur and Managing Director of ANIB, attributed the team’s success to the professional approach that his team maintained to remain unbeaten in the tournament. “Our coaching staff focused on overall development of the squad with special focus on fitness. The players’ commitment to give their best and the team spirit contributed to produce a high level of professionalism that enabled us to play fantastic cricket throughout the tournament.”
The biggest boost for Kannur was their skipper C.P. Rizwan who led from the front through some sterling performances to bag the man of the series award. “We had equal strength in all departments of the game. We had good depth in batting and bowlers were very effective. This is why we never lost any match,” remarked Rizwan, who was the leading run getter with 190 runs and also leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets.
In the final too, Rizwan opened the innings and hit 21 runs while Krishna Chandran scored 23 runs. At one stage, Kannur slipped to 73 for 5, before Jeevan Gangadharan hit a timely unbeaten 25 runs to ensure victory.
Ghazi Al Madani of Dubai Sports Council along with Vinod G Pillai, director of KCL gave away the prizes. This tournament was held under the aegis of Dubai Sports Council and Dubai Cricket Council and managed by Seashell Events. Dubai Sports Council honoured KCL with a four star rating as per their Sports events ranking system.
Brief scores:
Kasargod Superstars 120 for 8 in 20 overs (Ashraf Butt 54, N.A. Shihabudeen 28, Zahoor Khan 6 for 15) Kannur 123 for 8 in 18.5 overs (C.P. Rizwan 21, Krishna Chandran 23, Jeevan Gangadharan 25n.o, Thouseeq Hussain 2 for 28). Man of the match: Zahoor Khan
Individual awards: Man of the series: C.P. Rizwan, best batsman: Rohan Mustafa (Palghat Patriots) , Best bowler: Arshad (Kasargod).
