Ajman: Multiplex International emerged as the champions of the Ajman Cricket Council’s Mulk Holding T20 tournament taking a lesson from their defeat in the Sharjah Ramadan tournament final. Defeating Red Flower Tourism, the same opponents to whom they lost in the Sharjah final, they won the Mulk Holding Ramadan Cup.
Though Multiplex were bowled out for 117, they restricted Red Flower to a paltry 77 runs in 18.4 overs to win by 40 runs.
Speaking to Gulf News, Ameet Kukreja, who captains the team and is also part of the Multiplex team management, said: “In Sharjah we bowled out Red Flower for 124. Though we were good enough to chase that total we were bowled out for 104. Before the Ajman final first thing we did was to forget the Sharjah final and accept that in cricket anything can happen and any team can have a bad day. We decided not to repeat the mistake in Sharjah and went full out to bowl out Red Flower.”
Multiplex refused to be shattered by the deadly spell of Red Flower’s Mubashir Ahmad, who took five wickets for 19 runs. Led by Multiplex bowlers Zeeshan Khan with three wickets and Zubair Khan and S. Singh with two wickets they destroyed Red Flower’s batting. “We knew we are a good bowling unit and so we knew we can get them all out. We dedicate this victory and trophy to our team management colleague Gulam Hussain Amir who passed away tragically at the age of 33 recently. He always cheered for our team’s victories,” said Kukreja.
Multiplex is also in the final of the Dubai Dulsco Ramadan tournament and can end up with wining two Ramadan tournaments. “To be in three final Sharjah, Ajman and Dubai itself speaks of the superb show by my players this season. Two of our players — Imran Hyder and Qader Ahmad have got selected to the UAE team too. We hope to contribute more players to the UAE team,” added Kukreja.
In the Dulsco Ramadan semi-final, Global Distribution posted 197 for 7 but Multiplex reached the target in 18.4 overs losing six wickets. Multiplex meet Advantage Motors in the final.
Brief scores: Ajman Ramadan Cup final: Multiplex International bt Red Flower Tourism by 40 runs. Multiplex 117 in 20 overs.(Haroon Ahmed 53, Mohammed Yasir 23, Wasim Mirza 3 for 15, Waqas Raja 2 for 26, Mubashir Ahmed 5 for 19.) Red Flower Tourism 77 in 18.4 overs (Badi Uz Zaman 23, Zubair Khan 2 for 23, S Singh 2 for 12, Zeeshan Khan 3 for 15.) Man of the match Mubashir Ahmad.
Dulsco Ramadan Cup semi-finals: Multiplex International bt Global Distribution by four wickets. Global Distribution 197 for 7 in 20 overs (Murtuza Ahmad 44, Qasim Butt 32, Mohammad Yasir 3 for 30) Multiplex International 111 for 6 in 18.4 overs (Mohammad Yasir 86, Ali Zeeshan 39, Qasim Butt 2 for 38) Man of the match — Mohammad Yasir
Advantage Motors bt Hypertech Holograms by 37 runs. Advantage Motors 144 for 8 in 20 overs (Rinku Kumar 56, Adnan Arif 20, Sultan Ahmad 2 for 21)
Hypertech Holograms 107 in 18.2 overs (Gopa Kumar 40, S. Vishnu 30, Mohammad Tariq 4 for 9, Zahoor Farooqui 2 for 14) Man of the match: Mohammad Tariq.
