Dubai: It was a tough but learning experience for the exclusively all-Emirati team known as United Reale Group Emirati Warriors that is playing in the third edition of the Superstars T20 cricket carnival being held at the Sevens Stadium against star studded GMW Sharjah Royal Challengers. They bowed to a 139 runs defeat unable to contain the hard-hitting Pakistan International star opener Sharjeel Khan, who scored exactly 100 runs.
GMW team also had England star Owais Shah who cracked an unbeaten 52. Riding on knocks from these two batsmen, GMW posted 214 for 2 in 20 overs. Emirati Warriors could muster only 75 runs. Adil Farooq, who has been a strong campaigner of all Emirati team for a long time and had been the brain behind the formation of such a team, top scored with 19 runs. Qasim Zubair, the UAE-born all-rounder too chipped in with 19 runs. Sharjeel emerged as the man of the match. It is through this tournament that Sharjeel had won the richest prize in UAE cricket by bagging a car as prize for being the player of the tournament.
UAE team’s all-rounder Amjad Javed who produced many all-rounder performances in the recent ICC Cricket World Cup, bagged the man of the match award and a watch worth Dhs200 for his all-round performance. Amjad hit an unbeaten 29 from 19 balls which had four boundaries and bagged three wickets as Alubond Hyderabad Nawabs beat Globelink WestStar Shipping Kochi Islanders by 43 runs.
In another match, Danube Mumbai Warriors crushed Filli Café Kasargod Superstars by a whopping 119 runs in a Group C match. Man of the match Abid Ali slammed a power-packed 91 to propel Danube to 214 for 3 from 20 overs. Later Emaad Ali and Zahoor Khan ripped through the Filli Café batting line-up to skittle them out for a paltry 97.
It was a winning start for Globelink WestStar Shipping Kochi Islanders. P.M. Anfal scored a match-winning 72 as Kochi Islanders registered a 41-run win over Fly Emirates in a Group A match.
The most exciting match so far has been Interface Delhi Mughals’ thrilling two wicket win over Danube with a ball to spare. Mohammad Boota was the star performer with 58 runs
Brief scores:
GMW Sharjah Royal Challengers beat United Real Group Emirati Warriors by 139 runs
GMW 214 for 2 in 20 overs (Sharjeel Khan 100, Owais Shah 52 n.o., Shahzaib Hassan 41) Emirati Warriors 75 all out (Adil Farooq 19, Qasim Zubair 19; Usman Qadir 3/13, Asif Rasheed 2/8, Tariq Hussain 2/14). Man of the match: Sharjeel Khan of GMW.
Alubond Hyderabad Nawabs bt Globelink WestStar Shipping Kochi Islanders by 43 runs Alubond 162 for 5 in 20 overs (Zakir Afrin 46, Amjad Javed 29 n.o., Umair Ali 24, Sharan Pinto 2 for 42, Shanib 2 for 22) Globelink 119 for 7 in 20 overs (Krishna 37 n.o., Ajith 22 n.o., Ranjith 21; Amjad Javed 3 for 27, Sohaib Ahmed 2 for 16, Nasir 2 for 15). Man of the match: Amjad Javed.
Danube 214 for 3 in 20 overs (Abid Ali 91, Fakher Zaman 46 n.o., Asif Ali 26, Rana Adnan 25) Filli Café 97 in 15.3 overs (Wasim Rana 36; Emaad Ali 4 for 24, Zulfiqar Khan 3 for 21). Man of the match: Abid Ali.
Globelink WestStar Shipping Kochi Islanders bt Fly Emirates by 41 runs
Globelink 139 for 8 in 20 overs (P.M. Anfal 72; Nigel Fernandes 3 for 21, Krishna Chandran 2 for 24) Fly Emirates 98 in 17 overs (Krishna Chandran 26, Ranjith Mani 3 for 19, Zahoor Farooqi 2 for 13, Hari Prasanth 2 for 17). Man of the match: P.M. Anfal.
Interface Delhi Mughals bt Danube Mumbai Warriors by two wkts
Danube 135 for 8 in 20 overs (Abid Ali 56, Mohammad Boota 2 for 26, Nadir Hussain 2 for 32, Qadeer Ahmed 2 for 19) Interface 136 for 8 in 19.5 overs (Mohammad Boota 58, Riaz Afridi 3/32, Amir Hayat 2/27, Asif Iqbal 2/26). Man of the match: Mohammad Boota.