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.
Rising Stars ! Way to go
ReplyDelete