Young Vriitya Aravind wins hearts and steers Sharjah to the Emirate D10 title triumph as Fujairah’s Chirag Suri’s half-centuries illuminate the final day’s action

 By K.R. Nayar

Sharjah emerged supreme in the Emirates D10 riding on Vriitya Aravind’s fabulous match-winning knock while Fujairah’s Chirag Suri’s cracking unbeaten half century went in vain. The spectacular show by the UAE cricketers in this tournament televised by Emirates Cricket Board in conjunction with ITW was watched by fans from different parts of the world.

Sharjah team celebrate their triumph

It was a spectacular finish to the Fancode Emirates D10 2021 powered by SKY 247 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium mainly due to enthralling knocks by UAE’s two most promising batsmen Vriitya Aravind and Chirag Suri.

Eighteen-year-old Vriitya won hearts through a blazing unbeaten 66 off 27 balls that included 10 boundaries and two sixes and blew away Fujairah’s hopes of emerging the champions. Fujairah had topped the points table with a sterling show all through this event. Chirag Suri unleashed his wide repertoire of strokes through his two breezy half-centuries – an unbeaten knock of 55 off just 22 balls studded with seven boundaries and two sixes against Ajman in the first semifinal, and a stupendous unbeaten 71 off 25 balls with seven boundaries and five sixes in the final.

Vriitya Aravind receive the Player of the Match from Subhan Ahmad, Advisor to Emirates Cricket Board 

The final contest between the two best teams in the tournament was exciting right from the start. UAE’s most consistent pacer Junaid Siddiqui first removed Fujairah's opener Usman Khan for 11. He fell to a well-judged catch by Umair Ali at deep mid-wicket. Umair kept his eye on the ball and dived to take a tumbling catch. Junaid also dismissed the dangerous opener Waseem Muhammad, who bagged the Player of the Tournament award and finished as the highest run-getter with 430 runs from 12 matches. Waseem pulled Junaid into the hands of Umair for 7.

Chirag Suri, who cracked two unbeaten half centuries in the semifinal and final

Suri and Ali Shan Sharafu started to score freely. Eighteen-year-old Sharafu played some spectacular shots during his unbeaten 26 runs.
Sharjah’s chase was a Vriitya Aravind show all the way. After he put on 69 runs for the opening wicket with his skipper Fayyaz Ahmed (32), Vriitya virtually guided his team to the target in 8.1 overs. Celebrating their victory, he was carried off the field by his teammates. Within hours of winning the tournament, Vriitya  flew out of the UAE by an early morning flight to the UK for his higher studies.  
Sharjah, who has Khalaf Bukhatir as their team mentor, are the champions of the Emirates D20 tournament too. 

First semifinal

The final day began with Ajman, considered the dark horses of the tournament, bowing to Fujairah’s batting strength. Fujairah skipper Ahmed Raza,  after winning the toss, elected to bat first.  In-form Waseem Muhammad played another power-packed knock of 60 off 23 balls with four boundaries and a six before being bowled by Ajman skipper Nazir Aziz. Though opener Usman Khan fell for 21, Suri lifted the team to a huge 142 for 3 in 10 overs.
Ajman’s chase wasn’t impressive as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. After their star batsman and opener, Asif Khan fell for 35 runs, and his opening partner Abdul Shakoor followed for 15, the rest of the batsmen failed to rise to the challenge. Only Bahzad Naquib (16) reached double figures. The destroyer of Ajman’s run chase was accurate pacer Zahoor Khan, who took three wickets for 13, backed by the miserly Jiju Janardhanan, who gave away just nine runs from his two overs to take two wickets. Ali Shan Sharafu too picked two wickets from his one over giving away just three runs. Zahoor bagged the Player of the Match award.

Zahoor Khan receives the Player of the Match award from match referee Iftikhar Ali 

Second semi-final

The star of the second semifinal show was Sharjah’s Rohan Mustafa. He lifted Sharjah to the final through a match-winning unbeaten 61 off 26 balls with seven fours and three sixes. In this match too, opener Vriitya Aravind hit an unbeaten 36 off 20 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.
Batting first, the strong Emirates  Blues were restricted to 98 for 5 despite a good start from their openers. Mohammad Boota hit 31 runs before falling to Umair Ali. The accurate Umair Ali was the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 16 wickets from 12 matches. Junaid Siddique, displayed his variety of deliveries to take two wickets for 17 runs. Rohan Mustafa was the Player of the Match for his superb knock.

Rohan Mustafa 

The live coverage of this tournament were 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.