Match winning knocks from Asfan Dyar, Khalil, Laxman Sreekumar, and Jiju Janardhanan, and fine spells from Chand and Sher Khan heightens excitement in the Sharjah Ramadan League 2022 powered by Fancode S10 tournament

By K.R. Nayar

Afsan Dyar, Khalil Ur Rehman, Laxman Sreekumar and Jiju Janardhanan carried their teams to victory with fine knocks while Chand and Sher Khan with a hat-trick bowled brilliantly to ensure victories for their teams in the in the Sharjah Ramadan League 2022 powered by Fancode S10 tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Asfan Dyar cracked 51 in Al Moharb Cricket Academy’s exciting six-run win over Dubai Aviators while Khalil scored 59 in HKSZ Stars’ morale boosting win over Future Mattress. Laxman Sreekumar scored 41 in Colatta Chocolates win over Ajman Heroes by 24 runs while Jiju Janardhanan hit a valuable unbeaten 48 in Brothers Gas’s 17 runs win over Fair Deal Defenders by 17 runs.

The bowlers who sparkled were Chand and Sher Khan. Chand took two valuable wickets for 17 runs in VXI Cricket Club’s five-wicket win over formidable MGM Cricket Club while Sher Khan led the destruction of Rehan Khan Events in Syed Agah Cricket Club’s 56 runs victory with three wickets for 11 backed by Simranjeet Singh and also Harsh Desai with three wickets each.

Laxman Sreekumar’s valuable knock

Colotta Chocolates were looking for a winning total. Though openers Shinto George (17) and Mohammed Ajmal (27) set the base for a fighting total, it was Laxman Sreekumar who swelled the total with a knock of 41 off 15 balls with four boundaries and three sixes.

Chasing a run rate of 11.60, Ajman Heroes had a disastrous start. Laxman Sreekumar had a hand in it too.  He removed opener Faizan Sheikh for a duck by having him caught by Ajmal. He also took the catch of skipper Adnan Ul Mulk off Muhammad Zeeshan for 9. Rizwan KS made it tougher by having Faisal Baig out for a duck and also ran out Wajahat Rasool for 1. Sheldon D’Cruz who scored  28, along with consistent Sanchit Sharma (16), made a strong effort to take their team to the target. Although Sait Ibthisam scored an unbeaten 12, ultimately Ajman Heroes fell short by 24 runs.

Asfan Dyar’s crucial half century

The architect of Al Moharb Cricket Academy’s six runs win over Dubai Aviators was opener Asfan Dyar. His knock of 51 backed by one-drop Gul (36) and their 91 runs partnership for the second wicket gave Al Moharb Cricket Academy a total of 125 for 3. Dyar’s knock came off 33 balls with five boundaries. Sheraz Khalil's 17n.o and Hassan Ali Khan's 10n.o were crucial.

In a narrow win every run counts. No one expected  Al Moharb Cricket Academy to pull off a victory especially after an opening partnership of 51 in just 3.5 overs. Opener Ashan Shahzad scored 28 while his partner Saad Jawaid hit 49 runs off 24 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. One-drop Ridge Menezes too scored 30 runs. But Ikram Janjua bowled a brilliant last over, removing Ridge and gave away just four runs to ensure the six-run win.

Chand’s double strike

VXI Cricket Club beat the strong MGM Cricket Club through a combined effort. MGM Cricket Club’s strong batting could muster only 107 for 5. It was Chand who was responsible for controlling that. He picked the valuable wicket of consistent opener and captain Ansar Khan for 2. He also trapped one-drop Muhammad Kaleem leg before for a duck. It was a hard ride for MGM after the fall of these two quick wickets. Hameed Khan on 23 got bowled by Mohammad Waseem for 23, while Fayaz Frank fell to Intizar Ali for 28. If not for the consistent Rahul Chopra’s unbeaten 39, MGM may not even have crossed the 100-run mark.

Bolstered by restricting MGM to a gettable total, VXI Cricket Club despite losing captain and opener Fujail Farooqui to Saifullah Noor for 4, kept moving towards the target confidently. Muhammad Irfan and Salman Shahid took the total to 52 in 4.3 overs before Irfan fell to Ansar Khan for 16. Two runs later, Salman Shahid who scored a valuable 30 runs became another Ansar Khan victim.  Salman's knock came off just 12 balls with three sixes and one boundary.  Mohammad Ahsan chipped in with 15 runs while Vibhor Shahi through an unbeaten 29 took the team to the target. He hit the winning boundary through the extra cover off the last ball of the last over from Rahul Chopra.

Jiju Janardhanan’s responsible knock

Brothers Gas posted a challenging total of 118 for 3 mainly due to opener Jiju Janardhanan’s responsible knock of 48. His knock off 28 balls had seven boundaries and a six. He also set the base for the total through a 63 runs opening partnership with Usman Khan (27) in 4.3 overs. Skipper Muhmmad Waseem fell to Adeel Nawab for a duck while Dawood Ejaz got out to Yasir Maharvi also for a duck. Muhammad Afzal scored an unbeaten 36 off just 16 balls with three sixes and two boundaries to take his team to the challenging total.

Fair Deal Defenders never got going right from the start. Opener Wajid Khan got out to Mati Khan for 7. Suleman Khalid too fell for 7 to Umer Farooq. Opener Muhammad Imran scored 20 before falling to Muhammad Azhar. Though Syed Saqlain score 21 and Muhammad Saghir too hit 21n.o, they could not take the team to the target.

Khalil's stars in HKSZ Stars’ win

HKSZ Stars had a creditable win over formidable Future Mattress. The star of HKSZ’s win was opener Khalil who scored 59 runs off 26 balls with eight boundaries and two sixes. He dominated the bowling scoring more than half the team’s total of 108 for 6. Khalil batted till the score reached 96. Farhan Nazir scored 19 runs before getting run out.

Haider Ali receives Player of the Match award from match referee Iftikhar Ali 

Considering Future Mattress' batting strength and experience, HKSZ’s score wasn’t a big one. But HKSZ  went about destroying Future Mattress’s batting systematically. Haider Ali removed Zawar Fareed for 3 while Adeel Meo had skipper Rohan Mustafa caught and bowled for 19. Al Shan Sharafu fell at the score of 34 to Ali Raza for 10. Ali Raza also clean bowled Syed Haider Shah for a duck. Meanwhile Haider Ali also removed Abdul Shakoor for 7 and also clean bowled Usman for 7. When Haider Ali also got Farazuddin stumped by wicketkeeper Saif Bangash for a duck, seven wickets were down for 47 in 5.5 overs. Naseer Akram made a valiant effort to take the team to the target through an unbeaten 22 but fell short and lost by 26 runs. Haider Ali returned with figures of 4 for 15.

Sher Khan’s deadly strike

Syed Agah Cricket Club's emphatic 56 runs win over Rehan Khan Events was carved out of a combined effort. Opting to bat first, Syed Agah Cricket Club scored 110 after opener Khalid Shah fell for 13 at the score of 13 off six balls with three boundaries.   Hassan Eisakhel and one-drop Aryan Saxena took the score to 35 before Hassan got stumped by wicketkeeper Arif Ibrahim off Farhad Khan for 17. Saxena stayed on and with captain Niaz Khan took the score to 55 before Saxena got out to Farhad Khan for 10. Ten runs later Niaz Khan too followed after scoring 25 runs and falling to Kaif Jamil. Syed Atique got bowled by Kaif Jamil for a duck while Sher Khan got run out for 2. Harsh Desai scored 18 runs before he too got run out.

A run-rate of 11 per over wasn’t a tough one for Rehan Khan Events considering their recent performances. But Syed Agah Club demonstrated that a combined effort can prevent the run flow. Simranjeet Singh set the tempo by clean bowling opener Bilal Malik for a duck. He also got wicketkeeper Arif Ibrahim out for 1. Harsh Desai then clean bowled Ahmed Samir for 5. It was at this juncture that Sher Khan struck to remove skipper Rehan Khan for 3 and with the very next ball clean bowled opener Vinod Raghavan for 15. Kaif Jamil too got bowled by Sher Khan for a duck to earn his hat-trick. From 27 for 6 in 5 overs, Rehan Events could never recover. Muzamil scored 15 to take the total past the 50-run mark. Rehan Events were bowled out for 54 in 9.3 overs.

Brief scores:
Colatta Chocolates bt Ajman Heroes by 24 runs. Colatta Chocolates 116 for 6 in 10 overs (Mohammed Ajmal 27, Laxman Sreekumar 41, Sanchit Sharma 2 for 17, Wajahat Rasoon 2 for 11)  Ajman Heroes 92 for 7 in 10 overs (Sheldon D’Cruz 28, Muhammad Zeeshan 2 for 25, Rizwan KS 2 for 12)
Our Souq Player of the Match: Laxman Sreekumar

Al Moharb Cricket Academy bt Dubai Aviators by six runs.  Al Moharb Cricket Academy 125 for 3 in 10 overs (Asfan Dyar 51, Gul 36) Dubai Aviators 119 for 3 in 10 overs (Ashan Shahzad 28, Saad Jawaid 49, Ridge Menezes 30)
Our Souq Player of the Match:  Asfan Dyar

Eleven Cricket Club bt MGM Cricket Club by 5 wkts. MGM Cricket Club 107 for 5 in 10 overs (Hameed Khan 23, Fayaz Frank 28, Rahul Chopra 39, Chand 2 for 17) Eleven Cricket Club 109 for 5 in 10 overs (Salman Shahid 30, Vibhor  Shahi 29, Ansar Khan 2 for 11) 
Our Souq Player of the Match: Chand

Brothers Gas bt Fair Deal Defenders by 17 runs. Brothers Gas 118 for 3 in 10 overs (Jiju Janardhanan 48n.o, Usman Khan 27, Muhammad Afzal 36n.o, Adeel Haneef Nawab 2 for 21)  Fair Deal Defenders 101 for 6 in 10 overs (Muhammad Imran 20, Syed Saqlain 21, Muhammad Saghir Khan 21n.o, Muhammad Azhar 2 for 22, Umer Farooq 2 for 16)
Our Souq Player of the Match: Jiju Janardhanan

HKSZ Stars bt Future Mattress by 26 runs. HKSZ Stars 108 for 6 in 10 overs (Khalil 59, Faraazuddin 2 for 11)  Future Mattress 82 for 8 in 10 overs (Naseer Akram 22n.o, Haider Ali 4 for 15, Ali Raza 2 for 12).
Our Souq Player of the Match: Haider Ali 

Syed Agah Cricket Club bt Rehan Khan Events by 56 runs.  Syed Agah Cricket Club 110 in 10 overs (Niaz Khan 25, Farhad Khan 2 for 18, Wasee Ur Rehman 2 for 15, Kaif Jamil 2 for 11) Rehan Khan Events 54 in 9.3 overs (Simranjeet Singh 3 for 12, Sher Khan 3 for 11, Harsh Desai 3 for 5)
Our Souq Player of the Match: Sher Khan