Future Mattress triumphs in the Cup final while Ajman Heroes win the Plate title in the Bukhatir S10 league powered by Fancode

By K.R. Nayar

The Cup and Plate final of the Bukhatir S10 league powered by Fancode dished out breathtaking cricket with the winner of both the finals being decided in the last over. Sharjah Cricket Stadium and the Bukhatir League once again lived up to its reputation of producing electrifying cricket with Umair Ali of Future Mattress and Sagar Kalyan of Ajman Heroes sparkling under the lights.

Future Mattress - winners of the Cup final of the Bukhatir League S10 final

Future Mattress stopped the formidable and consistent InterGlobe Marine by four wickets to win the Cup final. InterGlobe Marine had out of the six CBFS tournaments this season, won thrice and finished runners up twice to bag the Best Franchise of CBFS Season 1.

Future Mattress's match winners Umair Ali and Syed Haider Shah receive the winners trophy from Khalaf Bukhatir and Mohammad Nabi 

The star of this final was Umair Ali, who bagged three wickets for four runs and hit a valuable unbeaten 28 runs along with Syed Haider Shah (23n.o). The Plate final hero was Sagar Kalyan who hit a quick 29 for Ajman Heroes along with Adnan Arif (28), and together they took their team past the Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI by eight wickets.

InterGlobe Marine skipper Asif Mumtaz receives the runners trophy from Khalaf Bukathir and Mohammad Nabi 

The prize-giving ceremony held past mid-night after the conclusion of both the finals was attended by Khalaf Bukhatir, CEO Sharjah Cricket, and Afghanistan’s star all-rounder Mohammad Nabi as the chief guest.

InterGlobe Marine's Abdul Rahim receives the Best Franchise of CBFS Season 1 award from Khalaf Bukhatir and Mohammad Nabi  

The script for the exciting Cup final began with Future Mattress winning the toss and electing to field. InterGlobe Marine opener Asif Khan hit the first ball of the final from Rohan Mustafa for a boundary over the covers. Opener Sandeep Singh too picked a boundary off Rohan Mustafa to third man and take nine runs off the first over.

Umair Ali receives the PSM Player of the Cup final award from match referee Tehseen Javed 

In the second over too Asif Khan hit Abdul Ghaffar to deep mid-wicket. Sandeep Singh also picked a boundary to deep square leg. Twenty-two runs were thus scored off the first two overs. The third over from Umair Ali turned out to be an eventful one and a game changer. With the first delivery Umair Ali had the hard-hitting Sandeep Singh caught behind by wicketkeeper Abdul Shakoor for 11. He also dismissed the danger man Asif Khan off the fifth delivery by having him brilliantly caught by Amjad Gul at long-on for 10. Umair Ali also removed Basil Hamid for 10, caught by Ansar Khan at short third man with the score reading 38 at the half way mark.

Sandeep Singh of InterGlobe Marine receives the best batsman of the tournament award from Khalaf Bukhatir 

Yasir Kaleem, who joined Vishnu Sukumaran, hit Ali Raza for a six to deep mid-wicket. Rohan Mustafa introduced himself for the seventh over and struck when he removed Yasir Kaleem with the fourth delivery by having him caught by Usman at deep cover for 17. Hameed Khan walked in next and hit Mustafa’s fifth and sixth deliveries for sixes. Hameed also hit Abdul Ghaffar for a six in the eighth over to long off. The ninth over was a happening over from Ali Raza. Hameed hit Raza for a six while Vishnu Sukumaran picked a boundary to third and six to deep mid-wicket and amass 23 runs from that over.

Haider Ali of Future Mattress receives the best bowler of the tournament award from yours truly

Then Vishnu Sukumaran got run out to the third ball of the last over from Haider Ali for 15. Hameed and Vishnu had lifted InterGlobe Marine from 54 for 4 to 106 for 5. Hameed hit the fifth six of his innings to long-off off the fifth ball of the last over and remained unbeaten on 42 off 14 balls with no boundaries but five sixes and guided InterGlobe Marine to a total of 114 for 5 in 10 overs.

Chasing a run rate of 11.40, Future Mattress lost their star opening batsman and skipper Rohan Mustafa to the third ball when he inside edged Touqeer Riyasat on to his wicket for 4. Abdul Shakoor began by pulling the first ball from Riyasat to the boundary. Ansar Khan ended the first over by lifting Riyasat over long off for a six. Despite losing a wicket, sixteen runs were scored in the first over.

Abdul Shakoor took two consecutive boundaries off Atta Ullah’s second and third delivers of the second over. With the fifth ball of that over, Atta Ullah had Shakoor caught behind by wicketkeeper Yasir Kaleem for 12 and trapped Mohammad Usman leg before with the last delivery. Amjad Gul took up the challenge and picked three boundaries off Mohammad Zahid’s over.  Ansar Khan, after hitting Asif Mumtaz to a six, got out caught by Hameed Khan at short third man for 13.  Atta Ullah clean bowled Amjad Gul for 15 and half the side was back in the dug-out for 53 in 4.1 overs.

At the half way stage, Future Mattress needed 54 runs to win. Off spinner Shahnawaz who bowled the sixth over had Mohammad Ikram caught and bowled for 12.  Touqeer Riyasat, who was re-introduced in the seventh over, was hit for two consecutive boundaries by Umair Ali. Shahnawaz bowled a brilliant eighth over giving away just six runs and then it turned out to be anybody’s game.

With 26 runs needed off 12 deliveries, Mohammad Zahid bowled a wide that went for a boundary.  Syed Haider Shah hit Zahid for two consecutive sixes and also hit the last ball of that over for another six, making it one run needed off the last over. Twenty-five runs came off the ninth over. 

Umair Ali hit the first ball of the last over from Asif Mumtaz for the winning boundary to remain unbeaten on 28 off 14 balls with three boundaries and six while Syed Haider Shah remained unconquered on 23 off 10 balls with three sixes.

Plate final

The Plate final too was well contested with Ajman Heroes electing to field. Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI lost their opener Abdullah Azhar in the third over, caught by Sultan Ahmed at long-off off Sanchit Sharma for 1. Ameer Hamza joined opener Dawood Ejaz and took the score to 50 in 4.3 overs before Ameer Hamza got caught by Mohammad Ajmal off Ankur Sangwan for 12. Ankur also clean bowled Qamar Awan for a duck. Hafeez Afridi provided support to Dawood Ejaz who was striking fluently, and together they took the score to 75 when Hafeez Afridi got caught by Sanchit Sharma at long-on off Nasir Aziz for 2. Zeehsan Akmal chipped in with an unbeaten 11. When five balls were remaining in the last over, Dawood Ejaz retired after scoring 57 off 37 balls with five boundaries and three sixes. Pakistan Super Market XI thus mustered a total of 96 for 5 in 10 overs.

Adnan Arif  captain of Ajman Heroes receives the Plate trophy from Mohammad Nabi 

Ajman Heroes openers Sagar Kalyan and Adnan Arif provided their team with a steady start. Sagar Kalyan began with a boundary to deep mid-wicket off Saifullah Noor off the fifth ball of the first over. In the second over, Sagar Kalyan hit Hafeez Afridi to the third man boundary. Adnan Arif too picked his first boundary in this over to the same region. Ameer Hamza, who bowled the third over, wavered in length and 17 runs were scored off that over. In the fifth over, after an opening stand of 51, Sagar Kalyan on 29 swung Farzan Raja into the hands of Haseeb Ur Rehman at mid-wicket. His knock off 17 balls had five boundaries.

Ajman Heroes' Sagar Kalyan receives the Player of the final award from match referee Tehseen Javed 

Faizan Sheikh joined Adnan Arif and tried to keep run flowing. Qamar Awan bowled a tight sixth over giving away just five runs. In the seventh over, two boundaries came off successive byes. Ajman Heroes needed 18 runs off the last two overs after Faizan Sheikh and Adnan Arif picked one boundary each from Ameer Hamza’s eight over.

Abdullah Azhar skipper of Pakistan Super Market XI receives the Plate runners up trophy from Mohammad Nabi 

In the ninth over Faizan Sheikh bravely lifted Saifullah Noor’s second delivery over long off for a six. Saifullah Noor got Adnan Arif out to the fourth ball for 28. His knock off 26 balls had three boundaries. Rahul Chopra walked when ten runs were needed off the final over. He picked a boundary off the first ball from Hafeez Afridi to third man region, then lifted the third ball over long-off for a six to help his team win the match and remain unbeaten on 11 while Faizan Sheikh remained unbeaten on 14 runs.

Brief scores:

 Cup final:

Future Mattress bt InterGlobe Marine by 4 wkts. InterGlobe Marine 114 for 5 in 10 overs (Hameed Khan 42n.o, Umair Ali 3 for 4) Future Mattress 118 for 6 in 9.1 overs (Umair Ali 28n.o, Syed Haider Shah 23n.o, Atta Ullah 3 for 17)
PSM Player of the final: Umair Ali

Plate final:

Ajman Heroes bt Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI by 8 wkts. Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI 96 for 5 in 10 overs (Dawood Ejaz 57, Angur Sangwan 2 for 17) Ajman Heroes 97 for 2 in 9.3 overs (Sagar Kalyan 29, Adnan Arif 28)
PSM Player of the final: Sagar Kalyan

Special awards:
Player  of the tournament: Usman Khan Brothers Gas
Best Bowler of the tournament : Haider Ali - Future Mattress
Best Batsmen of the tournament: Sandeep Singh – IGM
Best Franchise of CBFS Season 1 - InterGlobe Marine