A domestic cricket tournament final in Dubai witnesses a team snap their opponent's 10-match winning spree for a title triumph

By K.R. Nayar

Zabeel Mammoths stopped Banke’s unbeaten 10-match winning streak to win the 16th edition of the Mammoth league tournament held under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council at the 7’s cricket ground. This tournament is being held regularly since 2015 and is organised by Dubai Mammoths Cricket Club.


Zabeel Mammoths celebrate their stunning win 

Snapping a team’s winning streak had always excited cricket fans. The history of Test cricket has many such instances that are considered special. During the period 1982-84, West Indies won 27 Test consecutive matches till Australia ended it in Sydney winning by an innings and 55 runs. Between 1968 and 1971, England won 26 matches before being stopped by the Indian team led by Ajit Wadekar at Oval through a four-wicket win. Australia had won 25 matches between 1946 and 51, and 22 matches between 2005 and 2008. England ended the 25 matches unbeaten streak at Melbourne and India ended their 22-match victory run at Perth.

So Zabeel Mammoths’ four-wicket win over Banke, who had an unbeaten 10-match winning run till the final, is being talked about as an amazing show. Banke was considered the favourites but Zabeel, by giving their best, pulled off a spectacular win. It was Zabeel’s belief in their abilities despite the odds against them that helped them achieve the victory. The architects of Zabeel’s stunning win were Man of the match Vinan Nair and Prajakat Chouhan.

Zabeel Mammoths players flash the victory symbol after their special win

At the start, everything seemed to be in favour of Banke. They not only carried the confidence of their winning streak into the final but also won the toss. Zabeel went for the kill right away by removing Banke’s top order batsmen quickly. Banke’s Harvinder Singh (51 from 47 balls, 8x4) along with Naveen Kumar Gorthy (61 from 33 balls, 6x4, 2x6) took up the mantle of lifting Banke out of trouble. Naveen Kumar Gorthy, who bagged the best batsman of the tournament award, emerged the top scorer and ensured his team a fighting total of 177 from 25 overs.


Zabeel found the chase towards the target very tough but they did not give up. They lost both their openers Sangit Gopinath and Rohan Begera quickly. In walked Ranjeet Chavan, a veteran of many battles, and together with Adnan Nalwala (28), began the damage control. After Adnan retired hurt, Ranjeet and Prajakat Chouhan carried forward the momentum and steered Zabeel close to the target. After Ranjeet fell for an invaluable 59, Banke made a valiant effort to get back into the game removing a well-set Chouhan for 33. But then Vinan Nair rose to the challenge and cracked an unbeaten 33 from 17 balls to ensure Zabeel’s win in 23.2 overs. Earlier, Vinan had also sparkled with the ball to bag three wickets for 29 runs, well backed by Chouhan with two wickets.

This double round-robin tournament that is played in traditional white clothing and red balls is being held since 2015. The 17th edition of this tournament will start in September.

Brief scores (final):

Zabeel Mammoths beat Banke by four wickets Banke 177 for 9 in 25 overs (Naveen Kumar Gorthy 61, Harvinder Singh 51; Vinan Nair 3-29, Prajakat Chouhan 2-53). 
Zabeel Mammoths 178 for 6 in 23.2 overs (Ranjeet Chavan 59, Prajakat Chouhan 33, Vinan Nair 33 n.o., Adnan Nalwala 28 retd out; Naveen Kumar Gorthy 2-36, Shoaib Mattathi 2-22). 
Man of the Match (final): Vinan Nair (Zabeel Mammoths).
Special awards:
Best batsman: Naveen Kumar Gorthy of Banke (8 matches, 359 runs).
Best bowler: Sharan Pinto of Jabal Ali Mammoths (10 matches, 21 wickets).
Player of Tournament: Mukund Srinivasan (10 matches, 256 runs & 17 wickets).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

European Cricket Association launched in Paris to boost the game in the region

Image
By K.R. Nayar A cricket organisation to boost the game in Europe was launched in Paris today. Six cricketing nations joined hands and formed the European Cricket Association. The inaugural meeting of the association held at Pullman Effiel was attended by representatives of six cricket playing nations  - France, Italy, Jersey, Malta, Austria and Romania. France was the host of the meeting which was held under the chairmanship of Gurumurthy Palani, the Board Advisor to the France Cricket Association, till the president of the body is chosen. European Cricket Association officials at their launch meeting  Gabriel Marin of Romania was elected as the first President of the European Cricket Association, while Fabio Marabini of Italy will be the First Vice President. Three vice presidents were elected, which included Indika Perera (Malta), Sarah Gomersall (Jersey) and Gurumurthy Palani (France). Bilal Zal Mai of Austria will be the Executive Committee Member. Speaking about the...
Read more

UAE’s richest domestic cricket tournament launched through a 100-ball format in Sharjah

Image
By K.R. Nayar Petromann Sports Management is known to stage cricket events with a unique twist. The mastermind behind these innovations is Abdul Latif Khan, Founder of Petromann Sports Management. He brought tennis ball cricket to the international level through the 10PL, offering the richest prize money in this format. Now, he is set to launch Elite Corporate Cricket Bash (ECCB), a unique 100-ball format, which is likely to become one of the UAE's richest domestic tournaments, with a prize of Dh 1.3 million, at the historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Mazhar Khan and Dav Whatmore release the event jersey as Abdul Latif Khan and Nasir Akram look on  This ten-day tournament will feature 12 corporate teams. Petromann Sports Management, in collaboration with the Sharjah Cricket Council and Emirates Cricket Board, has created this platform to discover emerging UAE talent. The tournament, expected to revolutionize the UAE's domestic cricket scene, will reach an audience of 300 mill...
Read more

Remembering the first girl to play cricket in the UAE as the country hosts its first Women’s World Cup

Image
By K.R. Nayar The UAE is set to host the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 starting on October 3. There was a time when girls in this country hardly considered playing cricket. Instead, they preferred sports like badminton, tennis, and basketball, and rarely, if ever, held a cricket bat. It was during this period that a 10-year-old girl, Natasha Michael Cherriath, walked onto a cricket field with a bat in hand.   Natasha Michael showed the way for other women cricketers in the UAE Natasha had no other girls to play with, and the boys curiously observed her as she joined a game typically played only by them.   Every movement requires a pioneer, and Natasha was the one who started it all for girls' cricket here. While she learned the basics of the game from her father, Michael, he took her to renowned coach Shehzad Altaf, who had represented the UAE in the 1996 World Cup. Although Altaf initially told her that cricket was a sport for boys, Natasha was determined to learn. It didn’t ...
Read more