Sharjah: The unconquerable MGM Cricket Club emerged champions in the CBFS powered by Fancode S10 tournament by five runs in a last-over thriller against InterGlobe Marine at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium recently.
It was a spotless performance from MGM Cricket Club that remained unbeaten in this tournament, and they stopped InterGlobe Marine, champions of the CBFS T20 tournament, from recording a double triumph.
The hero of the final was left-arm spinner Ahmad Shafiq who took the valuable wickets of the InterGlobe Marine openers Asif Khan and Sandeep Singh to restrict them to 79 for 7 while chasing MGM Cricket Club’s moderate total of 84 for 8.
It looked like InterGlobe Marine had done enough to win the final when they restricted MGM to 84 for 8 through some fine bowling from Touqeer Riyasat (2 for 4) and Gopakumar Gopalakrishnan (2 for 25) despite Muhammad Kaleem’s fighting 32 runs off 22 balls with four boundaries and a six.
The chase was a thriller from the start with the aggressive openers Sandeep Singh and Asif Khan being able to put on only a 22-run partnership before Sandeep Singh departed.
The last over drama began with 12 runs needed off right-arm medium pacer Umar Hafeez, who was bravely introduced to bowl his first ever over in this tournament by skipper Malik. Shahnawaz Khan fell to the second ball from Hafeez and Vishnu Sukumaran, who carried the hopes of InterGlobe Marine by top-scoring with 29 runs off 16 balls with one boundary and two sixes, fell to the fifth ball. A six was needed off the last ball, but all InterGlobe could manage was a single and the MGM players walked away with their head high as the unconquered team of the championship.
Earlier, InterGlobe Marine, after winning the toss, had elected to field. Muhammad Kaleem, who did the majority of the scoring through his aggressive batting, go out caught for 32 with the score on 45. What followed was a batting collapse and were restricted to 84 for 8.
Waqas Ali, representing the winning team captain, said: “There is no secret behind our win. We played like a united family, fought and won it. We were unbeaten because we fought all the way and this format is such that anything can happen any time. But we made sure we played well in all matches and thus won all of them. We dedicate this trophy and success to our owner Muhammad Ghulam Malik Saheb who has encouraged us all the way.”
Asif Mumtaz, skipper of the InterGlobe Marine said: “Defeat and victory are all part of cricket; but we played good cricket and produced a good final. MGM played well and won it. It was a bad day for us but ultimately cricket was the winner. We are thankful to our owner Aman bhai who has advised us to come back stronger.”
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Waleed Bukhatir, vice-chairman of the Sharjah Cricket Council, said: “It is a great feeling to see the CBFS tournament, which set the trend by hosting the 241 One Day Internationals, the maximum number of ODI matches in world cricket history at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, is producing great cricket and matches through different formats. CBFS will continue to serve the game by producing more and more tournaments in different formats and bringing more and more talents to the fore.”
Mazhar Khan, General Manager Sharjah Cricket Stadium lauded the players and said: “We are delighted to have seen over 7,000 runs being scored in this tournament with 600 boundaries and over 400 sixes being hit. This shows the calibre and quality of cricket exhibited by the players in this tournament.”
Mazhar Khan concluded by announcing that more cricket is in offing: “We will be now staging the Ramadan cricket which will have T20 and S10 tournaments too.”
Brief scores:
Final: MGM Cricket Club bt InterGlobe Marine by 5 runs. MGM Cricket Club 84 for 8 in 10 overs (Muhammad Kaleem 32, Touqeer Riyasat 2 for 4, Gopakumar Gopalakrishnan 2 for 25) InterGlobe Marine 79 for 7 in 10 overs (Vishnu Sukumaran 29, Saifullah Noor 2 for 20, Ahmad Shafiq 2 for 8, Umer Hafeez 2 for 5). Player of the match: Ahmad Shafiq.
Semi-finals:
MGM Cricket Club bt Prim Heights Transport by 8 wkts. Prim Heights Transport 67 in 9.5 overs (Saifullah Noor 3 for 19) MGM Cricket Club 71 for 2 in 6.3 overs (Rahul Chopra 42no). Player of the match: Saifullah Noor.
InterGlobe Marine bt Alubond Tigers by 41 runs. InterGlobe Marine 127 for 3 in 10 overs (Sandeep Singh 21, Asif Khan 49, Owais Shah 33, Khalid Ibrahim 2 for 16) Alubond Tigers 86 for 8 in 10 overs (Sagar Kalyan 24, Muhammad Mudassar 21, Asif Mumtaz 3 for 14, Shahnawaz Khan 2 for 19). Player of the match: Asif Khan.
Best Batsman: Usman Khan of Brothers Gas (220 runs in six matches).
Best Bowler: Farhan Ahmad of Fair Deal Defenders (12 wickets in six matches).
Player of the tournament: Hameed Khan of Qudran International (216 runs from six matches).
