Sharjah: Ten Premier League (10PL), the richest ‘gully’ cricket tournament, commenced at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium with Yash Yash Bisya Lions from Oman winning the first match of the event.
Pacific Ventures team, who are also one of the sponsors of the tournament, defeated Eastern Blues from Saudi Arabia. This match saw Krishna Satpute, known as one of the finest tennis ball cricketers, cracked a half-century and bagged the Man of the Match award. Krishna’s knock of 53 helped Pacific Ventures post 87 for 2 and restrict Eastern Blues to 72 for 7.
Pakistan former Test opener Imran Nazir had launched this tournament which carries a prize money of Dh250,000. Indian Test star Virender Sehwag, who is the brand ambassador for this tournament, will present the winners’ trophy on December 2. The tournament is being held under the aegis of Sharjah Cricket Council. Mazhar Khan, after presenting the man of the match award to Satpute said: “It is great to see a different type of exciting cricket and we are proud to host such an event.”
The tournament is being organised by Petromann, a UAE-based oil and gas company with even the runners up team can pocket Dh60,000.
Before the start of the tournament, the four groups were given special names. Group A was named Awesome Avengers and is made up of Pacific Ventures, Yash Bisya Lions (Oman), Eastern Blues (Saudi Arabia) and Globe West Star Shipping. Group B named as Bold Brigade has Team Petromann, Al Falah Cricket Club (Saudi Arabia), Amaco Warriors (Saudi Arabia) and Shehenshah Warriors (Pakistan). Group C called Charismatic squad is made up of OCC Kerala (Saudi Arabia), Hanan Cricket Club (Qatar), SKC Goa (India) and Radio4 89.7FM. Group D named Deadly Force has of Friday Chargers (Abu Dhabi), Eleven Warriors, SAB Warriors (Saudi Arabia) and Alliance Freelance (Qatar).
Abdul Latif Khan, Chairman 10PL & Petromann Events, said: “We are delighted with the huge response to the inaugural edition. We want to make this event bigger and better and plan to have more teams in the future.”
