Ajman’s stunning win over Sharjah opens up Emirates D10 tournament battle

 By K.R. Nayar

Ajman’s unexpected win over formidable Sharjah and the strength of Fujairah and Emirates Blues were on display on the sixth day of the Emirates D10 tournament. Clashes are heating up with stunning performances from Ajman’s Asif Khan, Abdul Shakoor, Fujairah’s Waseem Muhammad, Sharjah’s Vriitya Anand, and other talented players from the UAE 

Ajman pulled off a stunning eight-wicket win over fancied Sharjah to open up the battle for Fancode Emirates D10 2021 powered by SKY 247 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The third match of the sixth day turned out to be a thrilling chase despite Sharjah posting a challenging total of 128 for 5. The clash saw Sharjah’s 18-year-old opener Vriitya Aravind play a spectacular knock of 71 and also clinch third place among the highest run-getters of the tournament so far with 192 runs from seven matches.
The star of the day was Ajman’s opener Asif Khan who carved out the victory for his team through a brilliant 49 runs well backed by Abdul Shakoor with an unbeaten 47. Khan is now the highest run-getter of the tournament with 278 runs from six matches.
Fujairah began the day displaying their might over Sharjah in their 40 runs win to be placed second in the points table. Emirates Blues, by beating Dubai by 34 runs, are at the top of the table with 10 points. Fujairah’s Waseem Ahmed cracked a quick 70 against Sharjah while Emirates’s Matiullah Khan produced a fine three-wicket spell in his team’s win over Dubai.
The boundaries and six-hitting continued with the number of boundaries swelling from 227 to 292 and sixes going up to 189.

Match 16. Sixth day March 30, 2021, first match:
Fujairah beat Sharjah by 40 runs
Toss: Fujairah won the toss and elected to bat

Fujairah opener Waseem Muhammad and Yasir Kaleem pushed Sharjah to a 40-run defeat through their splendid batting display. Waseem cracked 70 runs off just 25 balls with five boundaries and six sixers. Kaleem scored an unbeaten 43 off 17 balls with four sixes and three boundaries to ensure Fujairah an impressive total of 135 for 4 in 10 overs.  Sharjah’s strong bowling attack failed to stop the aggressive Waseem and Kaleem.
Chasing the target, Sharjah batsmen also failed to get going from the start. Fujairah’s medium pacer Luqman Hazrat clean bowled opener and star batsman, Rohan Mustafa, for seven runs and also clean bowled one drop Fayyaz Ahmed for four. Opener Vriitya Anand (37n.o) and Rameez Shahzad (28) put on a valiant effort to pull their team to the target. But the Fujairah bowlers kept the run flow on check backed by some good fielding and ensured their victory. Waseem Muhammad was adjudged Player of the Match for his superb knock.

Match 17. Sixth day March 30, 2021, second match:
Emirates Blues beat Dubai by 34 runs
Toss: Emirates Blues won the toss and elected to bat

Emirates Blues posted a challenging 121 for 6 despite losing their in-form batsman and opener  Muhammad Boota very early. He was brilliantly stumped by wicketkeeper Bilal Cheema off Jash Giyanani for just 11 runs. One-drop Laxman Manjrekar accelerated the run flow through a breezy 36 off 14 balls with three boundaries and three sixes. Waheed Ahmad too chipped in with 25 runs off just nine balls with two boundaries and two sixes while opener Ateeq Ur Rehman remained unconquered on 32 off 23 balls. Left-arm spinner Nilesh Keswani picked two wickets for 15 runs.

However, the Dubai batsmen could never get going against the tight bowling of Emirates bowlers. Bilal Cheema top-scored with 26 off 13 balls through some powerful shots. Muhammad Hassan too chipped in with 20 runs off 12 balls. Emirates’s Matiullah Khan picked three wickets for 18 runs and bagged the Player of the Match award too.
  

Match 18. Sixth day March 30, 2021, third match:
Ajman beat Sharjah by 8 wickets
Toss: Ajman won the toss and elected to bowl

Ajman outplayed Sharjah by 8 wickets in what can be called the match of the day. It was a splendid all-round show from Ajman although Sharjah was fancied to win the match. Sharjah had posted an impressive 128 for 5 through young opener Vriitya Aravind’s yet another stupendous knock. He cracked 71 off 34 balls while Kashif Daud hit a 12-ball 36 runs with four sixes and a boundary. Ameer Hamza was the pick among the bowlers with three wickets for 24 runs.

Ajman openers Asif Khan and Abu Shakoor set the stage for a superb chase through an opening partnership of 79 runs in 5.6 overs. Khan hit 49 runs off 22 balls with six boundaries and two sixes before falling to a stunning catch by Rameez Shahzad at long-on. Shakoor then steered his team to the target through an unbeaten 47 off 21 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. He was well backed by Ameer Hamza who hit 23 runs off just seven balls with three sixes and one boundary to speed up their race the target. Ajman won with four balls to spare. Ameer Hamza won the Player of the Match award for his fine all-round show.  

Watch the live coverage of this tournament on Fancode in India and sub-continent, Elife - Criclife/Switch TV/ du in UAE, Willow TV in USA and Canada, Live Media in Bangladesh  Facebook/mysportseye for the rest of the world, and Geo Super in Pakistan.