MGM Cricket Club stun InterGlobe Marine as bowlers steal the show in the three weekend clashes

By K.R. Nayar

MGM Cricket Club produced a sterling allround show to stun InterGlobe Marine in the 28^th match of the CBFS powered by Fancode T10 tournament at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday. The Sunday contests thus got off to a splendid start with the mighty InterGlobe Marine, winners of the CBFS T20 tournament, being restricted to 95 for 9. The hero of this match was MGM’s off-spinner Aitizaz Habib who produced a spell of 4 for 20 well backed by left-arm pacer Saifullah Noor (3 for 7). MGM thus won the match by six wickets with two balls to spare and remain unbeaten in all their five matches.

Aitizaz Habib receives the Man of the Match award from match referee Tehseen Javed

It was a bowler’s day at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium with Prim Height Transport’s left arm spinner Riaz Khaliq producing a deadly three wicket spell to restrict Alubond Tigers to 66 and win the match by nine wickets. In the third match of the day it was NFL Falcons’ right arm medium pacer Ameer Hamza, who put the brakes on Al Aziz Developers and ensure his team a 12-runs win.

Group A: InterGlobe Marine vs MGM Cricket Club

Aitizaz Habib’s spell shocks InterGlobe Marine

InterGlobe Marine elected to bat and as usual got off to a breezy start with openers Asif Khan and Sandeep Singh Sandy in full flow. They put on 52 runs in 4.2 overs before Asif Khan got bowled by leg spinner and captain Adeel Malik for 24. One run later, Malik struck again to remove Sandeep Singh caught by Danish Qureshi at long on boundary for 21. What followed then was the destruction of  one of the strongest batting line up in the tournament.

England Test star Owais Shah became off spinner Aitizaz Habib Khan’s first victim, caught behind by wicketkeeper Mayank Kumar for 7. With the very next ball, Aitizaz also had Babar Ghazanfar caught by Waqas Ali at long-off for a duck. Two runs later, Yasir Khaleem too got caught behind off left-arm pacer Saifullah Noor for 2. Worse was to follow when Touqeer Riyasat too fell to Saifullah for 1, caught brilliantly by Danish Qureshi at long on. 

When Vishnu Sukumaran too got stumped by wicketkeeper Mayank Kumar off Aitizaz, InterGlobe Marine’s hopes of even posting a total of over 100 began to vanish. Aitizaz picked his fourth wicket by having Hazrat Luqman caught and bowled for a duck while Saifullah Noor too did the same having Gopakumar Gopalakrishnan caught and bowled for 8. InterGlobe Marine were thus restricted to 95 for 9 in 10 overs.

MGM Cricket Club did not to waste the opportunity of getting InterGlobe Marine restricted to a small score. Openers Muhmmad Hassan and Mayank Kumar put on 36 runs in 3.4 overs before Hassan got caught by Babar Ghazanfar off Asif Mumtaz for 4. Mayan Kumar kept the score moving at a brisk pace hitting 36 runs off 19 balls with three boundaries and two sixes before getting caught by Mohammad Taimoor off Gopakumar Gopalkrishnan. 

Rahul Chopra then took the responsibility and with Waqas Ali took the score to 66 in 6.5 overs before Waqas Ali got caught by Owais Shah off Mohammad Taimoor for 10. Though Rahul Chopra too fell at the score on 82 caught by Mohammad Taimoor off Hazrat Luqman for 32, skipper Adeel Malik (10n.o) and Niaz Khan (4n.o) took their team to the target with two balls to spare.

Speaking about his Man of the Match winning four wicket spell, Aitizaz Habib said: “I am so happy that my bowling could win the match. I missed getting the hat-trick twice but what matters in T10 is dot balls and so I am happy with it. We are all in good form and we are having a good momentum and we hope to carry this on.”

Brief scores:
MGM Cricket Club bt InterGlobe Marine by 6 wkts. InterGlobe Marine 95 for 9 in 10 overs (Asif Khan 24, Sandeep Singh 21, Adeel Malik 2 for 15, Aitizaz Habib 4 for 20, Saifullah Noor 3 for 7) MGM Cricket Club 96 for 4 in 9.4 overs (Mayank Kumar 36, Rahul Chopra 32) 
Man of the Match: Aitizaz Habib

Group A: Alubond Tigers vs Prim Height Transport

Riaz Khaliq spins out Alubond Tigers 

Prim Height Transport won the toss and opted to field. They executed their plan of restricting Alubond Tigers to a small score very well. At the score on 19, they had the consistent opener Khalid Shah’s leg stump uprooted by left-arm pacer Asmat Ullah for 7.  Opener Sagar Kalyan, who was stroking well to score 20 runs off 10 balls, got caught by Amjad Gul of Farid Ghulam.  Thereafter wickets began to fall at regular intervals.

Adnan Danish got trapped leg before by Riaz Khaliq for 3 at the score on 30. Two runs later, Salman Shahid got stumped by wicketkeeper Ateequr Rehman off Riaz Khaliq for a duck. At the same score skipper Nasir Aziz too got trapped leg before by Riaz Khaliq for another duck. Ansh Tandon and Zuhaib Zubair took the score to 55 in 7.3 overs before Ansh Tandon departed caught by Rahman Gul off Farid Ghulam to the next ball for 17.  Zuhaib fell to the next ball becoming another leg before victim, but this time to Farid Ghulam for 5. 

Riaz Khaliq receives the Man of the Match award

Prim Height Transport went for the kill and had Ahmed Abdullah caught by Amjad Khan off Hazrat Bilal. Muhammad Sameer had his off and middle stump shattered by Bilal and Muhammad Mudassar got run out for 3. Alubond Tigers was bowled out for 66 in 9.5 overs

Chasing a small score needed a cautious start. Though Prim Height Transport lost their opener Waqas Ahmad clean bowled by Muhammad Sameer for a duck in the second over, skipper Rafeeq Zaman and Rahman Gul took the score to the target in 8.1 overs. Rafeeq Zaman remained unbeaten through a run-a-ball 24 and Rahman Gul remained unconquered on 38 off 19 balls.

Speaking about his spell of three wickets for just four runs that won him the Man of the Match award, Riaz Khaliq said: “I bowled according to the game plan my skipper had and I want to continue performing in the same manner. What I have become is because of the support from many well-wishers allowing me to enjoy playing the game. I dedicate my Man of the Match award to my new-born son.”

Brief scores:
Prim Height Transport bt Alubond Tigers by 9 wkts. Alubond Tigers 66 in 9.5 overs (Sagar Kalyan 20, Riaz Khaliq 3 for 4, Farid Ghulam 3 for 16, Hazrat Bilal 2 for 11) Prim Height Transport 67 for 1 in 8.1 overs (Rafeeq Zaman 24n.o, Rahman Gul 38n.o) 
Man of the Match: Riaz Khaliq

Group B: NFL Falcons vs Al Aziz Developers  

Ameer Hamza’s allround show ensures NFL Falcons exciting win

NFL Falcons won the toss and elected to bat. They justified their decision through a fine opening partnership of 59 runs between openers Hafeez Afridi and Syed Maqsood. Captain Hafeez Afridi hit 23 before getting trapped leg before by Abdul Raziq for 23. Maqsood and Ameer Hamza took the score to 86 in 7.5 overs before Raziq struck again to clean bowl Maqsood for 41. His knock off 19 balls had four boundaries and three sixes. Ameer Hamza too followed, trapped leg before by Shamim Ali for 27. At the score on 99 in the ninth over, Abdul Malik got run out for 4. Shamim Ali clean bowled Rasafeer Tariq for a duck while Sagheeer Afridi too got run out for 1. In the end, NFL Falcons posted a challenging 106 for 6 in 10 overs.

Ameer Hamza receives the Man of the Match award

Chasing the target, Al Aziz Developers got off to a bad start losing opener Ashan Shahzad, clean bowled by Zaheer Saddique for 1 in the second over. At the score on 6, skipper Ali Imran too fell caught by Ameer Hamza off Zaheer Saddique for a duck. This was followed by a stubborn partnership between opener Muhammad Nadeem and Hamid Nawaz. They gave hopes of victory through a 66 runs partnership for the third wicket. But right-arm pacer Ameer Hamza provided the breakthrough by having Hamid Nawaz caught by Rsafeer Tariq for 30. His knock off 17 balls had one boundary and two sixes. Ameer Hamza struck again to remove the well set Muhammad Nadeem caught by Abdul Malik for 47. His knock off 31 balls had seven boundaries. In the end, Al Aziz Developers could muster only 94 for 5 and ended up losing by 12 runs. 

Speaking about his allround show Ameer Hamza, who won the Man of the Match award, said: “It was a big match for my team and I used it to make my comeback. I dedicate this Man of the Match award to my wife.”

Brief scores:
NFL Falcons bt Al Aziz Developers by 12 runs. NFL Falcons 106 for 6 in 10 overs (Hafeez Afridi 23, Syed Maqsood 41, Ameer Hamza 27,  Shamim Ali 2 for 20, Abdul Raziq 2 for 22) Al Aziz Developers 94 for 5 in 10 overs (Muhammad Nadeem 47, Hamid Nawaz 30, Zaheer Saddique 2 for 18, Ameer Hamza 2 for 17) 
Man of the Match: Ameer Hamza