Consecutive century partnerships from openers lift Karwan Blues to the third slot

By K.R. Nayar 

Karwan Blues openers Ahaan Fernandes and Fahad Nawaz recorded their second consecutive century partnership in the 23rd match of the CBFS powered by Fancode T20 tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday to take their team to the third slot in the points table. Their partnership of 107 runs ensured a 70-runs victory over Savannah Lions.  This opening pair had put on a 129 runs partnership in their last match nine-wicket win against Karwan Strikers too.


If it was Fahad Nawaz who hit 66 to win the Man of the Match award against Karwan Strikers in their last match, this time it it was Ahaan Fernandes who top-scored with 62 to bag the award. In the match against Karwan Strikers too, Fernandes had hit an unbeaten 56.

Fernandes’ knock of 62 off 46 balls had eight boundaries. First to go was Nawaz who hit 47 off 34 balls with five boundaries before Judandre Kruger had him caught off Timoty Alan. Fernandes added another 35 runs with Lovepreet Singh for the second wicket before getting caught by Robin Gow Kleinschmidt off Earl Kivedo for 62. Lovepreet Singh hit a run-a-ball 19 runs before being caught by Earl Kivedo off Mitchell Van Wyk for 19. Waqas Ali Jutt and Taimoor Ali swelled the total before Waqar got run out for 27. Taimoor ensured that Karwan Blues crossed the 200 run mark with a last-ball six over long off and remained unbeaten on 21.

Fahad Nawaz 

Chasing the total of 201 for 4, Savannah Lions went for a cautious start scoring 32 runs in 6.2 overs before opener Robin Gow Kleinschmidt got caught behind by wicketkeeper Ashwanth Valthappa off Karthik Meiyappan for 14. Thirteen runs later, opener Bradley Staddon too followed cleaned bowled by Meiyappan for 22. Next man Mitchell Van Wyk got bowled by Waqas Ali Jutt for 1. When Mohammad Faraazuddin had Roshan Khan too caught by Taimoor Ali for 10, Lions began to struggle for runs. Half the side was back in the dug-out in 11.5 overs when Juandre Kruger, who top-scored with 25 runs got caught by Ahaan Fernandes off Faraazuddin.

Ahaan Fernandes then sparkled with the ball too to have Earl Kivedo caught by Lovepreet Singh for 6. When Fernandes also had Khalid Mahroof caught by Taimoor Ali for 9, Karwan Blues looked set for a big victory. Karthik Meiyappan took his third wicket by having wicketkeeper Jason Cook caught by Omid Rahman for 15 and restricted Lions to 131 for 8 in 20 overs.


Speaking about his match-winning performance taking two wickets and scoring 62 runs, 21-year-old Ahaan Fernandes said: “Though I picked two wickets, being a batsman I enjoyed scoring those runs. I also enjoy batting with my captain Fahad Nawaz who has the experience of also having led the UAE Under-19 team. It is through my hard work and also learning from the experience of Nawaz that I have been able to score these runs. I dedicate this Man of the Match award to my Dad who passed away a couple of months ago.”

Brief scores:
Karwan Blues bt Savannah Lions by 70 runs. Karwan Blues 201 for 4 in 20 overs (Ahaan Fernandes 62, Fahad Nawaz 47, Waqas Ali Jutt 27, Taimoor Ali 21n.o) Savannah Lions 131 for 8 in 20 overs (Bradley Staddon 22, Juandre Kruger 25, Karthik Meiyappan 3 for 26, Mohammad Faraazuddin 2 for 21, Ahaan Fernandes 2 for 27)
Man of the Match: Ahaan Fernandes


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