Colatta Chocolates emerged supreme in the 47th Bukhatir League defeating Karwan Cricket Club by 137 runs in the Cup final riding on Taimoor Ali’s unbeaten 133. Taimoor Ali’s sparkling knock off 109 balls with 13 boundaries and three sixes at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday set the stage for Colatta Chocolates huge total of 383 for 8 in 50 overs. Karwan Cricket Club could muster only 246 for 9 with Shyam Ramesh bagging three wickets for 23 runs.
It was a disciplined batting display from Colatta Chocolates after electing to bat. Both the openers, Manpreet Singh and skipper Renjith Mani hit 33 runs each. They put on a 51 runs partnership before Renjith Mani got out to Salman Saleem. Manpreet Singh stayed on, and with Hari Prasanth took the score to 97 in 11.4 overs before Manpreet fell trapped leg before to Muhammad Waqas.
Useful scores
Everyone that followed chipped in with useful scores. Hari Prasanth fell at the score of 126 for 3 in 17 overs to Babar Iqbal for 36. This was followed by a match-winning partnership of 133 runs for the fourth wicket between Nikhil Srinivasan and Taimoor Ali. Qamar Awan ended Nikhil Srinivasan’s fine knock of 65 off 69 balls with six boundaries.
Taimoor Ali, who was in full flow, got another partner in Laxman Sreekumar. They took the score to three runs short of the 300 run mark when Laxman got bowled by Salman Saleem for 22. The contribution from other batsmen continued when Intizaar Ali too hit 20 runs before getting run out.
Though Shyam Ramesh got caught behind by wicketkeeper Furqan Khalil off Saif Ghauri for a duck, Gopakumar Gopalakrishnan chipped in with 14 runs before being run out. Consistent Krishna Chandran who came out to bat late did not get to face any ball but with Taimoor Ali walked back to the dug-out having posted a mammoth 383 for 8 in 50 overs. It was nothing but a show of combined effort from all the batsmen.
It was now left to Colatta Chocolates’ bowlers to prove their mettle when Karwan Cricket Club began their chase. Karwan Cricket Club looked like they were set for a big fight even though opener Furqan Khalil fell early to Manpreet Singh for 14. Rameez Shahzad and Moazam Hayat lit up hopes through a partnership of 76 runs. Shahzad was in full flow and looked set for his half century when at the score on 45 he got trapped leg before to Intizaar Ali.
Long innings
Next man Qamar Awan could not play a long innings and fell to Nikhil Laxman for 14. When Shyam Ramesh clean bowled Ali Khan for 20, Karwan Cricket Club slipped to 183 for 4 in 29.2 overs.
Their hopes of victory began to fade when Shyam Ramesh ran out opener Moazam Hayat for 71 off 96 balls with only two boundaries. When Ameer Hamza fell to Shyam Ramesh in the 36th over, the pressure began to mount.
At the score of 224, Muhammad Waqas too got run out to Muhammad Zeeshan’s fielding for 6. Shyam Ramesh made it tougher by clean bowling Saif Ghauri for 8. Sunny Azam became the third batsman to get run out through Intizaar Ali for 8. Skipper Babar Iqbal, who was hurt, did not come out to bat and Karwan Cricket Club got restricted to 246 for 9 in 44.4 overs.
