Khandan XI RAK’s Zeeshan scored 92 to blow away Arqam Cricket Club while Inter Globe Marine’s Sandeep Singh and Seven Districts’ Almaz Ayub cracked whirlwind unbeaten half centuries in the Sharjah Ramadan S10 tournament

By K.R. Nayar

Khandan XI RAK’s Zeeshan hit 92 off 38 balls with five boundaries and seven sixes to blow away Arqam Cricket Club in the Sharjah Ramadan S10 tournament on Tuesday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Inter Globe Marine’s Sandeep Singh cracked an unbeaten 60 off off 26 balls with three boundaries and six sixes to outplay Colatta Chocolates by eight wickets in the first match of the day.

 

In the second match, Seven Districts’ Almaz Ayub hit an unbeaten 72 off just 19 balls studded with three boundaries and nine sixes to down Valley Boyz by 36 runs.

 

Sandeep Singh’s unbeaten 60 off 26 balls in Inter Globe Marine’s win

 

Colatta Chocolates won the toss and elected to bat against InterGlobe Marine. Their openers Taimoor Ali and Janaka Chaturanga put on 67 runs in just 4.5 overs. Chaturanga got caught behind by wicketkeeper Yasir Kaleem off Shahnawaz Khan for a breezy 44 off 19 balls with six boundaries and two sixes. Seven runs later, Junaid Shamsu got out to Mohammad Taimoor for 7.

 

Taimoor continued to strike repeatedly. He trapped Mazhar Hussain leg before for 2 and then clean bowled Laxman Sreekumar for a duck. Shabik and Taimoor Ali took the score to 92 before Umer Farooq clean bowled Shabik for 5. Taimoor fell to the last ball of the innings run out for 26 and Colatta Chocolates posted 95 for 6 in 10 overs.

 

Chasing the easy target, opener Sandeep Singh made it easier by going for his shots. Together with Yasir Kaleem he put on 56 runs in 4.1 overs. Yasir got out to Junaid Shamsu for 21. Sandeep and Basil Hameed then took the score to 72 in 5.3 overs before Hameed got caught and bowled by Gopakumar Gopalakrishnan for 3. Touqeer Riyasat remained unbeaten on 6 while Sandeep Singh through his unconquered 60 ensured the victory in just eight overs.

 

Brief scores:
InterGlobe Marine bt Colatta Chocolates by 8 wkts. Colatta Chocolates 95 for 6 in 10 overs (Taimoor Ali 26, Janaka Chaturanga 44, Mohammad Taimoor 3 for 18) InterGlobe Marine 96 for 2 in 8 overs (Sandeep Singh 60n.o, Yasir Kaleem 21) 
Player of the match: Sandeep Singh.

 

Almaz Ayub’s breezy unbeaten 72 in 19 balls in Seven Districts win

 

In the second match of the day, Seven Districts won the toss and elected to bat against Valley Boyz. Junaid Khan Afrifi and Raees Ahmad put on 22 runs before Junaid Khan Afrifi got out to Usman Trumboo for 4. At the score on 41, Raees Ahmad got trapped leg before to Mudasir Wani for 31. Three runs later, captain Muhammad Haider too got out to Saqib Amin for 7.

 

Muhammad Saghir Khan too became Wani’s second victim by getting clean bowled for 5.  From 56 for 4 in 5.5 overrs, Almaz Ayub changed the course of the match. He went on to hit an unbeaten 72. Abdul Ghaffar, who provided good support, fell to Khalid Ibrahim for 26 to the second ball of the last over after taking the score to 134. Ayub continued to swell the total and ensured a score of 153 for 5 in 10 overs.

 

Chasing the challenging target, Valley Boyz could not gain the momentum. The first to go was opener Khalid Ibrahim for 12 to Muhammad Haider. At the score of 44, Danish Ahmad got caught and bowled by Abubakar Khan for 14. Saqib Amin held on to score 28 runs before falling to Fargan Khan. Though Shabir Bhat and Mafooz Ilahi scored unbeaten 24 and 23 runs respectively, that was not enough to take their team to the target, and ultimately they lost by 36 runs.

 

Brief scores:
Seven Districts bt Valley Boyz by 36 runs. Seven Districts 153 for 5 in 10 overs (Raees Ahmad 31, Almaz Ayub 72n.o, Abdul Ghaffar 26, Mudasir Wani 2 for 20)  Valley Boyz 117 for 3 in 10 overs ( Saqib Amin 28, Shabir Bhat 24n.o, Mafooz Ilahi 23n.o)
Player of the Match: Almaz Ayub

 

Zeeshan’s quick 92 in Khandan XI RAK’s win

In the third match of the day, Khandan XI RAK won the toss and elected to bat against Arqam Cricket Club. They lost their opener Tariq Owaisi to the third ball of the innings for 1 from Lucky.  One-drop Muzammel Safdar fell to the very next ball to Lucky for a duck. This was followed by a fighting partnership of 108 runs between Abdullah Asad and Zeeshan. Asad retired at his score of k19 but Zeeshan went on to hit 92 before becoming Lucky’s third victim to the last ball of the match. Umer Abbas remained unbeaten on 10 and Khandan XI posted a total of 135 for 4 in 10 overs.

 

Arqam Cricket Club chased the total losing two quick wickets. Opener Farhan Babar got out to Umer Abbas for 6. One-drop Wajahat Butt too got out to Tariq Owaisi for 6. This was followed by a fight partnership of 40 runs between Adnaan Khan and Abdullah Ghazi. Adnaan Khan got out to Zeeshan for 11 at the score of 60. Six runs later, Abdullah Ghazi too got out bowled by Aazi Shah for 31.

 

Wickets began to fall regularly with Karan Menon getting out to Aazi Shah for 2 and skipper Jaffer Naqvi getting clean bowled by Asad Alee for 2. Muhammad Tamim got run out for 4. Muhammad Qasim remained unbeaten on 12, but in the end, Arqam could muster only 87 for 7 in 10 overs.

 

Brief scores:

Khandan XI RAK bt Arqam Cricket Club by 48 runs. Khandan XI RAK 135 for 4 in 10 overs (Zeeshan 92, Lucky 3 for 9) Arqam Cricket Club 87 for 7 in 10 overs (Abdullah Ghazi 31, Aazi Shah 2 for 14)

Player of the Match: Zeeshan