Dubai : Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi sparkled with the bat and ball but that was not enough to steer Fly Emirates to victory in the first two matches of the Emirates Airline Twenty20 Cup at the Sevens yesterday.
Fly Emirates lost the opening match by eight runs to Surrey and the second match by seven runs to Sussex.
It was indeed a credible show from Fly Emirates team, made up of employees of Emirates airlines, to challenge the county teams comprising professional stars. Afridi top scored in the first match with 35 runs off just 20 balls with three boundaries and two sixers against Surrey.
In the second match, Afridi got run out for eight but produced a fine spell of three for 18 from his four overs.
Fly Emirates won the toss and elected to field against Surrey. Though Emirates pacer Rehan Adil clean bowled opener Michael Brown for a duck, skipper Rory Hamilton Brown top scored with 41 runs.
Yasin Sikander was the pick among the Emirates bowlers. He took three wickets for 24 runs.
Unbeaten
Mathew Spriegel, through an unbeaten 40 helped Surrey set a challenging 159 for 6. Afridi bowled four overs and gave away 29 runs but could not get any wicket.
Emirates began their chase confidently, but lost opener Iqbal Mohammad, bowled by Jade Dernbach for 10 runs. Gareth Batty struck two quick blows dismissing Amjad Javed for 26 and trapping Arshad Ali leg before for 20. Afridi and Khurram Khan took the score to 121 but Hamilton Brown bagged the prize wicket of Afridi for 35. Khan too got stumped off Spriegel for 30 runs.
From the last over, Emirates needed 12 runs but lost three wickets in the first three balls of that over bowled by Spriegel.
In the second match, Sussex won the toss and was restricted to 110 for seven despite opener Chris Nash's fighting 45 runs.
Afridi struck repeatedly to take three wickets while Emirates skipper Nigel Fernandes chipped in with two wickets.
Emirates began their chase well putting on 36 runs in five overs before opener Javed fell for 16 and Mohammad for 22.
After Nash bowled Arshad for 13 and Afridi got run out for 8, the Emirates batting collapsed.
Khurram Khan was trapped leg before by Monty Panesar for a duck. Last man, Adil hit a six in the penultimate over but Chad Keegan bowled a tight last over to ensure an exciting victory.
In the third match of the day, Cape Cobras shocked Surrey by 46 runs.
Surrey bt Fly Emirates by eight runs. Surrey 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rory Hamilton Brown 41, Usman Afzaal 23, Matthew Spriegal 40n.o, Yasin Sikander 3 for 24) Fly Emirates 151 for 8 in 20 overs (Amjad Javed 26, Arshad Ali 20, Shahid Afridi 35, Khurram Khan 30, Gareth Batty 2 for 34, Hamilton Brown 2 for 29, Matthew Spriegel 2 for 7). Sussex bt Fly Emirates by seven runs: Sussex 110 for 7 in 20 overs (Chris Nash 45, Shahid Afridi 3 for 18, Nigel Fernandes 2 for 18) Fly Emirates 103 for 8 in 20 overs (Iqbal Mohammad 22, Chris Nash 2 for 17).
