A star in the UAE domestic cricket, a one week old ODI debut century-maker, and Oman cricket’s pride, all shine on the first day of Abu Dhabi T10

By K.R. Nayar

Three cricketers made the opening day of the fourth edition of Abu Dhabi T10 a very special one. The tournament once again got off to a promising start with unexpected turns and twists witnessed within the 10 overs

Abdul Shakoor 

Can there be a better start for the fourth edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament? The hero of the first match was a star in UAE domestic cricket that sparkled amidst renowned international cricketers. Abdul Shakoor, who through his tall scores in domestic cricket had clinched a place in the UAE national team, was the match-winner in the first match through a whirlwind 73 off 28 balls studded with five sixes and seven boundaries to guide Maratha Arabians to a five-wicket win over Northern Warriors. Shakoor reached his half-century in just 14 balls thrashing South African pacer Wayne Parnell for 18 runs in an over and Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz for 23 runs in another over.

Shakoor had earlier played as captain for the Alubond Tigers team that was owned by Abu Dhabi T10 chairman and creator of the T10 format Shaji Ul Mulk. He had also scored heavily for many domestic teams, especially in the Bukhatir League, and has produced many memorable knocks at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket stadium.

This format, known for its edge of the seat thrillers, saw Maratha Arabians win the match off the last ball of the innings when their young 25-year-old captain Mosaddek Hossain from Bangladesh hit the fifth and sixth ball from Parnell to the boundary.

Munis Ansari 

The second match saw Munis Ansari, a medium-pacer from Oman, another cricketing nation from the Gulf, take the prize wickets of limited over champions Kieron Pollard and Cameron Delport to ensure Pune Devils an emphatic seven-wicket win over Deccan Gladiators. It also saw a not so high profile captain, Bangladesh off-spinner Nasir Hossain, take three early wickets and destroy the Gladiators’ batting strength.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

In the high scoring last match of the day, Afghanistan’s 19-year-old Rahmanullah Gurbaz, through a breezy 41, set the stage for Delhi Bulls’ seven-wicket win. What makes Gurbaz’s knock special is that exactly one week before, on January 21, he had hit a century on his ODI debut against Ireland at the same ground. His 127 runs had steered Afghanistan to a 16 runs win over Ireland, and he had bagged the man of the match award as he did for Delhi Bulls.


Brief scores (first day):
First match: Maratha Arabians bt Northern Warriors by five wickets. Northern Warriors 127 for 2 in 10 overs (Brandon King 29, Lendl Simmons 54, Rovman Powell 22) Maratha Arabians 131 for 5 in 10 overs (Abdul Shakoor 73, Fabian Allen 2 for 11) Man of the match: Abdul Shakoor

Second match:  Pune Devils beat Deccan Gladiators by 7 wickets. Pune Devils 104 for 5 in 10 overs (Cameron Delport 25, Azam Khan 37n.o, Nassir Hossain 3 for 18, Munis Ansari 2 for 11) Deccan Gladiators 106 for 3 in 9.2 overs (Kennar Lewis 57 not out) Man of the match: Kennar Lewis

Third match: Delhi Bulls beat Bangla Tigers by seven wickets. Bangla Tigers 128 for 2 in 10 overs (Johnson Charles 73n.o, Andre Fletcher 32) Delhi Bulls 129 for 3 in 8.5 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 41, Evin Lewis’s 32n.o, Ravi Bopara 38) Man of the match: Rahmanullah Gurbaz

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