Usman Khan hits an unbeaten 135 with a shower of sixes off 40 balls in the Bukhatir S10 league powered by Fancode

By K.R. Nayar

To crack a hundred in a ten over tournament is a remarkable feat, but Usman Khan of Brothers Gas did more than that by scoring an unbeaten 135 and steering his team to an 85 runs win over DCC Starlets in the Bukhatir S10 league powered by Fancode. What makes his knock spectacular is the fact that his knock came off just 40 balls with a shower of sixes (15 sixes and eight boundaries). The knock lit up the historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium which has been the stage of many such whirlwind knocks in the past.


The star performers in other matches were Shinto George of Colatta Chocolates, who hit an unbeaten 79 against Pakistan Super Market XI in their 87 runs victory, Hameed Khan of InterGlobe Marine, who hit a valuable 36 runs in his team’s eight wicket win over Ajman Heroes, and Mudasir Ali’s spell of 3 for 5 that gave Medsol Labs – GHI an eight-wicket win over Rajkot Thunders.

When Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI won the toss, they would have hoped to restrict Colatta Chocolates to a small total after electing to field. However, openers Shinto George and Renjith Mani began to strike freely and put on a 116 runs partnership in 7.5 overs.  Hafeez Afridi trapped Renjit Mani leg before for 53. His knock off 22 balls had four boundaries and four sixes. Shinto George remained unbeaten on 79 off 32 balls with seven boundaries and five sixes. Shyam Ramesh too chipped in with an unbeaten 15 and Colatto Chocolates posted a huge total of 157 for 1 in 10 overs.


Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI’s start began with a setback. The lost their consistent and star batsman Dawood Ejaz for a duck caught by Renjit Mani off Manpreet Singh. One-drop Hafeez Afridi too became Manpreet Singh’s second victim for 6. Zeeshan Akam too fell caught and bowled by Shyam Ramesh for a duck. This continuous fall of wickets prevented Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI from getting the momentum required to chase the big score. In the end they could muster only 70 for 3 in the 10 overs.

The sixth match of the tournament between InterGlobe Marine and Ajman Heroes saw InterGlobe Marine restricting Ajman Heroes to 96 for 3 in 10 overs. Ajman Heroes lost opener and star batsman Khalid Shah to the fifth ball of the first over when Touqeer Riyasat clean bowled him for 5. Opener Adnan Arif and Mohammad Ajman took the score to 27 when Mohammad Zahid had opener Adnan Arif caught behind by wicketkeeper Yasir Kaleem for 7. Harry Bharwal had Mohammad Ajmal stumped by wicketkeeper Yasir Kaleem for 16.

Rahul Chopra began to unleash his shots and scored an unbeaten 40 off 27 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. Sheldon D’Cruz too chipped in with an unbeaten 21 to muster a total of 96 for 3 in 10 overs.


Chasing the target, InterGlobe Marine got off to a good start. The aggressive Sandeep Singh went for his shots and scored 31 off just 13 balls with two boundaries and three sixes before being stumped by wicketkeeper Rahul Chopra off Ankur Sangwan.  Hameed Khan went on to score 36 runs off 20 balls with three boundaries and three sixes to take the score to 71 in 5.5 overs before becoming Ankur Sangwan’s second victim. Yasir Kaleem, through an unbeaten 18, and Vishnu Sukumaran (9n.o), took their team to the target in 8.5 overs to record an eight-wicket win.

The seventh match between Medsol Labs - GHI and Rajkot Thunders also ended in an identical eight wicket win for Medsol Labs – GHI.  Rajkot Thunders who were asked to bat first had a 28 runs opening partnership in just two overs through opener Banty Nandy and Ameya Soman. Their consistent opener Banty Nandy got run out for 19. One-drop Gurdip Singh and Ameya Soman took the score to 59 in 4.1 overs when Gurdip fell leg before to Mudasir Ali for 8. One run later, Ameya Soman too departed becoming another Mudasir Ali victim for 20. Though Gurjant Singh hit 17 runs, Mudasir Ali struck again to remove Rohit Karanjkar for 1. Hafeez Ur Rehman got Mitesh Thanki and Hardik Patel clean bowled for duck. Rajkot Thunders thus scored 101 for 9 in 10 overs.


Medsol Labs got off to a good start with openers Syed Maqsood and Fayyaz Ahmed putting on 52 runs in just three overs. Maqsood fell to Keshav Sharma for 26. Fayyaz Ahmed continued to strike well, and together with one drop Muhammad Kaleem they took the score to 100 when Kaleem fell for 27, stumped by wicket keeper Ameya Soman off Hardik Patel for 27. Fayyaz went on to hit an unbeaten 45 off 21 balls with three boundaries and four sixes to ensure the win in 7.4 overs.

The eighth match of this tournament will be remembered for Brothers Gas’s Usman Khan’s whirlwind century. DCC Starlets, who had elected to field, saw opener Usman Khan going for his shots right away. So aggressive was Usman that he put on an opening partnership of 100 in just 7 overs with his partner Abhinand Maldath who scored just 18 runs. Ronak Panoly got Abhinand out. Soon young Yug Sharma too struck to remove Laxman Manjrekar for 5.


Usman Khan carried Brothers Gas to a huge total hitting boundaries and sixes with ease. Muhammad Afzal who remained unbeaten on 10 saw Usman Khan race to score an unbeaten 135 out of the team’s total of 169.

DCC Starlets’ innings lacked lustre and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Ronak Panoly was the first to go falling to Waseem Akram for 12. Opener Rishan Mukherjee followed falling to Muhammad Azhar for 17. Umer Farooq then dismissed Shaurya Singh and Shival Bawa for 10 runs each. When Laxman Manjrekar too struck twice to oust Shrey Sethi for 11 and Harshit Seth for a duck, DCC Starlets were restricted to 84 for 8 in 10 overs and they lost by 85 runs.

Brief scores:
Colatta Chocolates bt Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI by 87 runs.
Colatta Chocolates 157 for 1 in 10 overs (Shinto George 79n.o, Renjith Mani 53)  Pakistan Super Market (PSM) XI 70 for 3 in 10 overs (Qamar Awan 40n.o, Abdullah Azhar 21n.o, Manpreet Singh 2 for 17)
PSM Player of the Match: Shinto George

InterGlobe Marine bt Ajman Heroes by 8 wkts. Ajman Heroes 96 for 3 in 10 overs (Rahul Chopra 40n.o, Sheldon D’Cruz 21n.o) InterGlobe Marine 97 for 2 in 8.5 overs (Sandeep Singh 31, Hameed Khan 36, Ankur Sangwan 2 for 17)
PSM Player of the Match: Hameed Khan

Medsol Labs - GHI bt Rajkot Thunders by 8 wkts. Rajkot Thunders 101 for 9 in 10 over (Ameya Soman 20, Hafeez Ur Rehman 3 for 14, Mudasir Ali 3 for 5) Medsol Labs – GHI 102 for 2 in 7.4 overs (Syed Maqsood 26, Fayyaz Ahmed 45n.o, Muhammad Kaleem 27)
PSM Player of the Match: Mudasir Ali

Brothers Gas bt DCC Starlets by 85 runs. Brothers Gas 169 for 2 in 10 overs (Usman Khan 135n.o) DCC Starlets 84 for 8 in 10 overs (Laxman Manjrekar 2 for 13, Umer Farooq 2 for 14)
PSM Player of the Match: Usman Khan

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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

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

A 25kg cricket book and Ashwin’s 100th Test match ball at Shyam Bhatia’s museum