Sterling performances in Ramada Gulf Cup

Sharjah: The popular Ramada Gulf Cup for cricketers from the under the age of 9 to under 17 produced some sterling performances with Vivek Aditya leading the show with an unbeaten century at the Skyline University ground. This tournament organised by GM Cricket Academy and Everest Sports and sponsored by Ramada Hotel, Ajman under the auspices of the Sharjah Cricket Council is being contested by many overseas teams.

Durham-UAE Cricket Club defeated Youth Cricket Academy from Bahrain in an Under-13 match while Durham-UAE Al Ain team have reached the final of the Under-17 event. They will meet Cricket Federation of India (CFI) in the final.

Aditya’s cracked an unbeaten 131 runs off 86 balls and guided Durham-UAE to a massive 141 runs win over Youth Cricket Academy from Bahrain. United Kingdom’s Durham County Club ‘s Under 17 team and two teams from Youth Cricket Academy from Bahrain are playing the under 13 and under 15 categories. The tournament feature teams in the under 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17.

Batting first, Durham-UAE posted 243 for 3 in the allotted 25 overs with Aditya smashing 18 boundaries and a six. In reply, Youth Cricket Academy’s batting crashed against Hari Shankar’s hat-trick in the first over. Shankar returned with four for 10 runs as the Bahrain were bowled out for 102.

Durham-UAE Al Ain will take on Cricket Federation of India (CFI) in the Under-17 final. Durham UAE had recorded a 10-wicket win over CFI in the league match.

In the semi-final Durham UAE Al Ain stopped fancied opponents from the United Kingdom Durham County Club by 13-runs. Batting first, Durham UAE Al Ain, were restricted to a lowly 121 through Luke Elliot (4 for 22) and Max William (3 for 21).

However, the Durham batsmen, apart from Marcuss Brown’s unbeaten 39 all the other batsmen failed in their chase and were restricted to 108 for 9. In the other semi-final, CFI made the most of S Abhishek’s unbeaten 81 to down GM Cricket Academy’s total with nine wickets to spare.

Twenty20 cricket camp:

The second Twenty20 cricket camp with Pakistan ace Azhar Mahmood will be held in February at the ICC Academy at Dubai Sports City. Azhar Mahmood, the Pakistan international cricketer hailed as one of the best players in the history of Twenty20 cricket will be at the ICC Academy for a second coaching camp aimed at honing youngsters’ skills in the sport’s shortest format. The camp will be from February 8 to 12. The first camp, which included a visit from former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram gave tip on the techniques that have emerged over the past decade since Twenty20 made its mark. February’s five-day clinic will be along similar lines and is aimed at boys and girls aged up to 18 who want to learn and understand what it takes to be a top Twenty20 player. Coaching sessions will be held every evening from 7 to 9pm.

Brief scores:

Under 13: Durham-UAE bt Youth Cricket Academy, Bahrain by 141 runs. Durham-UAE 243 for 3 in 25 overs (Vivek Aditya 131n.o, Clarin 25). Youth Cricket Academy 102 (Jagan 30, Hari Shankar 4 for 10; Vivek Aditya 2 for 13, Clarin 2 for 6). Man of the match: Vivek Aditya

Under 17: Semifinal: CFI bt GM Cricket Academy by 9 wkts. GM Cricket Academy 137 for 9 (Fahad Nawaz 52, Srinivas Sarma 24, Zaid Afridi 21, Deepak 3 for 24). Cricket Federation of India 142 for 1 in 19 overs (S Abhishek 81n.o, Deepak 27n.o). Man of the match: S Abhishek Durham CC bt Sharjah Cricket Academy by 113 runs. Durham CC 165 for 8 in 25 overs (Toby 20, Sam 25, Aaron 21, Nihal 2 for 34, Ashar 2 for 10). Sharjah Cricket Academy 52 in 12.1 overs (Aaron 5 for 21, Nathan 2 for 11).