UAE domestic cricket stars light up opening day of the second edition of Emirates D10

  By K.R. Nayar

Mohammad Boota steals the thunder in Emirates Blues’ win over Dubai and Ajman while CP Rizwan, Laxman Manjrekar, young Fawaz Nawaz,  Ronak Panoly, Alishan Sharafu, Umair Ali, experienced players Rohan Mustafa, Fayyaz Ahmed, Akif Raja  and UAE skipper Ahmed Raza display their skills. Sharjah pulls off exciting win over Fujairah.  

The first day of the Fancode Emirates D10 2021 powered by SKY 247 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium saw UAE ‘s finest domestic cricketers displaying their skills to give an exciting start to the second edition of the event. Leading the show were players from the Emirates Blues team that won two matches defeating Dubai and Ajman.

The stars behind this team’s win were Mohammad Boota, who opened the innings for Emirates team and stood like a rock in both matches to crack an unbeaten 39 runs against Dubai and a brilliant, unconquered 71 against Ajman. Boota’s opening partner CP Rizwan too sparkled in both matches, top scoring with 40 against Dubai, and remaining unconquered with 14 runs against Ajman. Rizwan also displayed his skills as a fine leg spinner by keeping the batsmen guessing with his googlies and take two wickets against Ajman.

 For Dubai, despite posting an impressive 120 for 2, riding on Fawad Nawaz’s unbeaten 66 off 34 with four sixes and five boundaries and Ronak Panoly’s unbeaten 31, their bowlers failed to deliver. Emirates had a star performer in Laxman Manjrekar who chipped in with a breezy 39 off just 14 balls. His acceleration with the bat won him the player of the match award too.

In the second match, Sharjah produced a sterling bowling performance despite being restricted to 101 for 3. They fought back to stop Fujairah at 92 for 6 in 10 overs. The architect of their victory was Umair Ali who bowled brilliantly to pick two wickets for 31 and also hit an invaluable unbeaten 16 to take the score past the 100-run mark. Sharjah’s top scorer was Fayyaz Ahmed, who hit an unbeaten 35. 

Fujairah skipper Ahmad Raza, through three towering sixes and an unbeaten 20, almost pulled his team close to the total. Young Alishan Sharafu hit a stubborn 32 runs, but Sharjah’s fielding led by Rohan Mustafa was outstanding. Mustafa took two catches and also picked a wicket, while Junaid Siddiqui, Abu Dhabi T10’s star bowler, chipped in with one wicket giving away only 17 runs from his two overs.

In the third match, Ajman bowed before the batting might of  the Emirates Blues. Though Ajman took the brave decision of batting first after winning the toss, their batsmen let them down. They could post only 86 for 7 with Ameer Hamza alone rising to the challenge with 33 runs. Their batsmen could not handle the accurate pace from Sharjah’s Akif Raja, who took two wickets for just nine runs from his two overs.  CP Rizwan also bowled brilliantly to bag two wickets for 12 runs.

 Chasing the target, Boota steered Emirates Blues to the target in just 7.4 overs through his unbeaten 71 off 31 balls studded with 10 boundaries and three sixes. Rizwan played second fiddle with an unbeaten 14 in the emphatic ten-wicket win.