Al Ain CA stun NMC to book last four berth

Al Ain Cricket Association (ACA) stunned a strong New Medical Centre (NMC) squad in the league fixture of the NMC Trophy, to virtually assure themselves of a berth in the semifinals.

It will be their first-ever appearance in the last four stage of an A division tournament and ACA are assured of the spot with one match left. ACA have won four matches and lost one, but their win on Friday over NMC at the Zayed Cricket Stadium put an end to the latter's unbeaten record.

The ACA squad, a selection of players from their local league, were considered to be strong on cement pitches only and they had beaten NMC in Al Ain last year.

But on the turf pitch, in their second outing, ACA again brought about the downfall of NMC.

"Our players are just getting used to the turf. We only have cement wickets in Al Ain, but hopefully we will get a good ground soon," said Nasir Butt, an ACA official.

Batting first, NMC recovered from a poor start to reach 257 in 48.5 overs. Chamara Zoysa, one of the many Sri Lankan players who joined NMC a couple of seasons ago, came in when the scoreboard read two down for four runs, and cracked an impressive century. Zoysa hit eight boundaries and one six, but his effort only earned him the man of match award. Al Ain were steered home with a skipper's knock of 69 from Imran Hussein and Shaheed Butt's 53.

Both ACA and NMC have just one match left and with four wins and one loss, each stay ahead of the pack, which includes Nissan Al Masaood Automobiles, Abu Dhabi Gymkhana and Union National Bank.

In another match of the same tourney played in Sharjah, Consolidated Shipping Company trounced Fly Emirates by 87 runs.

Scores

NMC Trophy:
Al Ain CA bt NMC by one wicket. NMC 257 in 48.5 overs (Sandeep Dhuri 34, Chamara Zoysa 115, Yogesh Mistry 38, Imran Butt 2 for 18, Mohammed Arshad 2 for 36, Imran Hussain 2 for 46) Al Ain CA 258 for 9 in 49.2 overs (Shahed Butt 53, Amanat Mughal 30, Ashfaq Ahmed 32, Imran Hussain 69, Awad Baramada 31, Yogesh Mistry 2 for 56, Shadeep Silva 2 for 40, Satish Shinde 2 for 32). Man of the match: Chamara Zoysa.

CSS beat Fly Emirates by 87 runs. CSS 298 for 6 in 50 overs (Shashi Kanth 54, Samir Nayak 61, Maqsood Ahmed 47, Kashif Ahmed 37, Mohammed Naseem 52 n.o.; Moather Raza 2 for 38, Amjad Javed 2 for 48) Fly Emirates 186 for 8 in 37.4 overs (Fahad Usman 77, Murali Seokalingham 68; Samir Nayak 3 for 18, Aqeel Latif 3 for 23). Man of the match: Samir Nayak.