Abu Dhabi: White Hunters defeated Department of Health (DoH) by 27 runs to clinch the 6th Sandy League cricket tournament held at the Abu Dhabi Cricket ground.
Having made it to the final with convincing wins, both sides gave it everything in the final.
Batting first, White Hunters smashed a mammoth 269 in 20 overs despite losing opener JD Mahesh early.
Centurion Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Abbasi put DoH attack to the sword by compiling 148 runs for the second wicket.
Rizwan needed only 52 balls for his hurricane 107 which was studded with nine sixes and seven boundaries while Abbasi was equally devastating during his 73 off 29 balls at it was laced with eight sixes and four fours.
Rubbing more salt in DoH wounds was Gopa Kumar and Mohammad Asif. The former got to 26 runs from 17 balls while Asif merciless hit four maximums and two fours for his 39 from just 13 balls which probably was the turning point in deciding the match.
DoH also started their innings in a whirlwind fashion but the scoreboard pressure was always there. Jamshed Butt (73 from 24 balls, 9x6, 4x4), Baber Ghazafar (43 from 26, 4x6, 2x4), Atif Ahmad (44 not out from 20, 5x6, 2x4) and Fayaz Ahmad (25 from 16, 2x6, 2x4) took their team close to the target but it still wasn’t good enough to see them home.
Bilal Sajid with 4 for 27 was outstanding with the ball bagging four of the top five DoH batsmen. Mohammad Asif with 2 for 36 and Mohammad Irfan 2 for 40 also made useful contributions with the ball to bowl as DoH we bowled out in 19 overs.
Brief Scores: White Hunters beat Department of Health by 27 runs. White Hunters 269 for 3 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 109, Abdulla Abbasi 73, Mohammad Asif 39 n.o., Gopa Kumar 26 n.o.; Moinudeen Zayed 3-45) DoH 242 all out in 19 overs (Jamshed Butt 73, Baber Ghazanfar 43, Atif Ahmad 44 n.o., Fayaz Ahmad 25, Sultan Ahmad 20; Bilal Sajid 4-27, Mohammad Asif 2-36, Mohamed Irfan 2-40). Man of the match: Mohammad Rizwan.
