UAE’s rising stars hog the limelight on the first day of Dream 11 Emirates D20 Tournament

By K.R. Nayar

Young Aryan Lakra’s five-wicket spell and Rameez Shahzad’s all-round show lights up the opening day of the Dream 11 Emirates D20 Tournament contested by teams representing Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, and Fujairah, and the Emirates Cricket Board also fielding its own team.

Aryan Lakra (C) during UAE Under-19 match

UAE’s rising stars Aryan Lakra and Rameez Shahzad hogged the limelight on the first day of the Dream 11 Emirates D20 Tournament.  The Emirates Cricket Board’s initiative to stage tournaments for all formats of the game through the country’s premier tournaments has created a huge impact with youngsters getting a high profile stage to display their skills. Recently, the Emirates Cricket Board had staged a T10 tournament which too had brought many talented players to the fore.

Speaking to krbuzz.blogspot.com during the launch of the Dream 11 Emirates D20 Tournament, Mubashshir Usmani, Secretary-General of the Emirates Cricket Board, had remarked: “We felt it is important that our cricket board,  like the Indian cricket board that stages the Ranji Trophy tournament, should stage high profile premier tournaments. Our board has already staged the Emirates D10 tournament, now the D20 event, and very soon we will try and stage 50 over tournaments and the longer format.”


The first day of the Dream 11 Emirates D20 Tournament, in partnership with ITW Consulting, saw UAE’s Under-19 skipper Lakra producing a deadly five wickets spell to guide Emirates Cricket Board Blues to a 36-runs win over Team Abu Dhabi at the Dubai International Stadium. 

In the third match of the day, Rameez Shahzad, who has already cemented his place in the UAE national team as a fine allrounder, cracked a breezy 73 runs and bagged three wickets to steer Ajman Alubond to a 70-run win over Team Abu Dhabi.

In the second match, Usman Khan, who cracked 50 runs to help Fujairah Pacific Ventures post a total of 148 for 4 in 20 overs, was the star performer. Fujairah then restricted Sharjah Bukhatir XI to 138 for 5 and win by 10 runs.

Left-arm spinner Lakra had played a pivotal role in the UAE qualifying for the 2020 Under-19 World Cup through some sterling all-round performances. In a crucial match against Oman, Lakra had picked three wickets and cracked 52 runs in the qualifier at Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur. A performance in a tournament of national importance can guide Lakra a long way.
  
In the match against Abu Dhabi, ECB Blues posted 142 for 7 in 20 overs with opener CP Rizwan top- scoring with 40 runs. Abu Dhabi was restricted to 106 for 9 through Lakra’s spell of 5 for 16 backed by Waheed Ahmed (3 for 18).

Rameez Shahzad

In the match between Ajman and Abu Dhabi, Rameez Shahzad had dominated Ajman’s batting show.  Rameez, who is the son of former UAE cricket turned coach Shahzad Altaf, has tremendously improved his fitness in recent times. Well-built Rameez went for his shots right away and scored 73 runs off just 43 balls with 12 boundaries and one six. Opener Abdul Shakoor too scored 60 runs off 58 balls. So dominant was Rameez’s batting that when he got dismissed in the 17th over he had scored nearly half of his team’s total.  In reply, Abu Dhabi could muster only 111 in 19.2 overs due to Rameez striking thrice backed by Ehtesham Siddiq and Sultan Ahmed taking two wickets each. A fighting knock of 42 runs from Midhun Pattlikkaddan, went in vain.

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