Jamil Aslam bags six in Royal Gymkhana win

Abu Dhabi: Jamil Aslam produced a standout all-round performance to guide Royal Gymkhana to a nine-run win over DHL Lions and a passage to the quarter-finals of the Abu Dhabi Ramadan Twenty20 Cup.

Gymkhana returned from a heavy defeat at the hands of United Bank Limited (UBL) on the previous night and were up against DHL in a must-win game to qualify from Group C.

Aslam bowled a brilliant spell to return with excellent figures of six for 17 from four overs to restrict DHL to 156 for eight in reply to Gymkhana’s 165 for four at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Aslam produced a double strike in his second over, dismissing the DHL opener Sajid Khalil (27), trapped in front, with the second ball and Linkan Alexander, caught off his own bowling, the next delivery.

Aslam, in his second spell, took three wickets in his third over and bagged his sixth scalp when he returned to bowl the penultimate over of the innings.

Earlier, Aslam chipped in 33 off 29 balls and added a valuable 47 for the second wicket with opener Abrar Kalim (35).

In another outing, New Medical Centre (NMC) sent Moosa Daly packing from Group B in which One Stop Tourism (OST) won all three games to finish on top.

Brief scores:

Royal Gymkhana beat DHL by 9 runs. Royal Gymkhana 165 for 4 in 20 overs (Abrar Kalim 35, Jamil Aslam 33, Shanaka Perera 3-23) DHL Lions 156 for 8 in 20 overs (Rizwan Haider 33, Jamil Aslam 6-17).

United Bank Limited beat Royal Gymkhana by seven wickets. United Bank Limited 99 for 3 in 10.1 overs (Mohammad Boota 60) Royal Gymkhana 96 in 17.1 overs (Abdul Haq 3-13, Mohammad Naveed 3-18, Zaheer Maqsood 2-20).

New Medical Centre beat Moosa Daly by 7 wickets. New Medical Centre 130 for 16.2 overs (Fayyaz Ahmad 51, Niresh Fernando 38, Hafiz Ilyas 30) Moosa Daly 124 in 18.3 overs (Dilan George 35, Pragash Ram 35, Nisar Ahmad 5-24).

Quarter-finals line-up: Mir v Royal Gymkhana, OST v Singh Diesel, UBL v William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana and Alubond Tigers v NMC.