Dubai: Ajman continued their unbeaten run in the inaugural Wolf 777 News Emirates D50, which kicked off at the Emirates Sevens in Dubai last week.
After the round of first set of matches, Ajman have won three out of three, defeating their opponents comprehensively with middle order batsman Dawood Ejaz scoring two half centuries and a five-wicket haul by Ankur Sangwan.
Another impressive performance came from Emirates Blues’ Ali Shan Sharafu, who has scored the lone century in the series so far. Sharafu had also scored an 86 for a losing cause against Sharjah.
Highlights of the matches so far:
Match 1
Dubai defeated Abu Dhabi in a low-scoring encounter. Put in to bat first, Abu Dhabi were dismissed for 102 in 29.5 overs with Riyan Mohammed (26) and Mohammed Savad (23) scoring almost half the team runs. Abdul Malik (2-21), Ronak Panoly (2-9) and Laxman Manjrekar (2-0) being the main wicket-takers. In reply, Dubai reached the target in 26.2 overs after losing four wickets. Syed Haider Shah (32) gave a brisk start to Dubai while man of the match Ameer Hamza, who also claimed a wicket, remained unbeaten on 23.
Match 2
Ajman beat Fujairah by 87 runs. Put in to bat, top order batsmen — opener Sagar Kalyan (43), Asif Khan (88), Dawood Ejaz (70) and Rahul Chopra (31) — did the bulk of the scoring to guide Ajman to 270 for nine in 50 overs. Sabir Rao was the most impressive bowler for Fujairah with 4-46 at an economy rate of 4.60. Fujairah’s chase faltered from the start and after losing wickets at regular intervals, they were dismissed for 183 in 48.2 overs. Sultan Ahmad (23-23), Zuhaib Zuhair (3-44) and Hassan Khalid (3-30) did the job for Ajman.
Match 3
Sharjah beat Emirates Blues by 70 runs. Bahzad Naquib’s half-century (56 with three 4s and four 6s) gave Sharjah a fighting total after electing to bat first. Rizwan CP (40) and Rohan Mustafa (29) also assisted in Sharjah scoring 209 before being all out in 48.5 overs. Sanchit Sharma and Adhitya Shetty claimed three wickets each while Ali Shan Sharafu and Rahul Bhatia claimed two wickets each. In reply, Sharafu waged a lone battle to 86 off 101 balls (six 4s and three 6s), but rest of the batsmen let the Emirates Blues down to be dismissed for 139 in 36.4 overs. Mustafa and Rizwan starred with the ball too, claiming three and two wickets respectively while Aayan Afzal Khan finished with figures of two for 25. Sharafu had the consolation of being named man of the match for his gallant effort.
Match 4
Ajman beat Abu Dhabi by seven wickets. Electing to bat, Abu Dhabi were all out for 171 in 41.5 overs. Ankur Sangwan was the chief destroyer with a five-wicket haul. Extras was the biggest contributor for the total with 39 while Jonathan Figy (25), Fayyaz Ahmed (32 not out) and Waqas Gohar (29) also chipping in. Breezy knocks by Asif Khan (64) and Dawood Ejaz (54 not out) guided Ajman to easy win with seven wickets to spare.
Match 5
Emirates Blues beat Dubai by 8 wickets. Ali Shan Sharafu continued his stunning form with an unbeaten 104 to help Emirates Blues chase an easy target of 220 in 33.3 overs. Ansh Tandon too helped the cause with an unbeaten 77. Put in to bat, Dubai could not complete the full quota of overs and were all out for 219 in 47.5 overs. Syed Haider Shah (31), Ameer Hamza (75), Bilal Cheema (26) and Muhammad Hassan (45) were the main contributors for Dubai while Omaid Rahman and Adhitya Shetty claimed two wickets each for Emirates Blues.
Match 6
Ajman beat Emirates Blues 28 runs. When Emirates Blues won the toss and put Ajman in to bat, little did they realise that Ajman would rake up the highest score of the Emirates D50 so far. Sagar Kalyan (65), Asif Khan (44), Safeer Tariq (37) and Rahul Chopra (82) ensured Ajman reached 284 for nine in 50 overs. Sanchit Sharma and Rahul Bhatia once again claimed three wickets and two wickets each, while Adhitya Shetty grabbed two wickets. In reply, Ali Shan Sharafu (34), Ansh Tandon (67), Punya Mehra (47) and Adhitya Shetty (39) led the chase gamely, but their efforts were not enough to take their team past the target. Danish Qureshi (3-41) and Nasir Aziz (2-45) starred with the ball for Ajman.
Match 7
Sharjah beat Fujairah by four wickets. Sharjah batsmen must have been disappointed with their efforts against Fujairah. Excepting Muhammad Ikram (48), none of them could make a valuable contribution after being put in to bat. But for the 54-run last-wicket partnership between Ali Intizar (24 not out) and Akif Raja (27) the total could have looked even more paltry as Sharjah were all out for 178 in 42.5 overs. Hazrat Bilal (2-38), Ahmed Raza (3-39), Mujahid Amin (3-35) did the job for Fujairah. Shanawaz Khan’s unbeaten 83 played a pivotal role, while Waseem Muhammad (27), Basil Hameed (24) and Ahmed Raza (21 not out) provided the invaluable support. Aayan Afzal Khan claimed three wickets for Sharjah.
