Timely unbeaten half century from Fayyaz Ahmed lifts Future Mattress to victory while Haider Ali’s bowls Seven Districts to triumph with a four-wicket spell in the 34th Sharjah Ramadan Cup T20 tournament

By K.R. Nayar

Fayyaz Ahmed’s timely unbeaten 54 steered Future Mattress to a five-wicket win over Z Game Strikers. Batting first, Z Game Strikers were restricted to 149 for 7, and Future Mattress, through Fayyaz Ahmed’s knock, reached the target with three balls spare in the fifth match of the 34th Sharjah Ramadan Cup T20 tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

 

In the sixth match, Seven Districts restricted InterGlobe Marine to 125 for 8 despite a fine knock of 50 from Sandeep Singh. Haider Ali was the chief destroyer with a spell of 4 for 15. Seven Districts won the match by four wickets with five balls to spare.

 

Fayyaz Ahmed’s timely unbeaten half century

 

Z Game Strikers won the toss and elected to bat. Their opener Ronak Panoly got clean bowled to Imran Khan for 16. Skipper Shahrukh Muhammad Amin and Lovepreet Bajwa took the score to 46 in 4.4 overs when Amin got run out for 21. Lovepreet Bajwa stayed on and took the score to 67 before he too got run out for 23. Sardar Bahazad got bowled by Shahzad Adil for 9. With half the side back in the dug-out,  Faisal Altaf got trapped leg before to Muhammad Azhar for 1.

 

Ahaan Fernandes and Safeer Tariq added 40 runs for the sixth wicket before Fernandes became the third player to be run out for 11. Safeer Tariq who kept the scoreboard moving got out to Shahzad Adil to the third ball of the last over for 55. His knock off 43 balls had four boundaries and three sixes. In the end, Z Game Strikers posted 149 for 7 in 20 overs.

Future Mattress began their chase on a shaky note. Opener Abdul Shakoor got clean bowled to Nilansh Keswani for 10.  Opener Usman too became Nilansh Keswani’s second victim for 5. When consistent Dawood Ejaz too got bowled by Keswani for 4, Future Mattress was struggling at 32 for 3 in 5.2 overs. The chase became tougher when Zawar Fareed too got out to Nadir Hussain for 19. 

Syed Haider Shah then took up the challenge and batted strongly along with Fayyaz Ahmed. Together they put on 92 runs for the fifth wicket before Syed Haider Shah got out to Nadir Hussain for 42. His knock off 31 balls had four fours and two sixes. Fayyaz Ahmed went on to hit an unbeaten 50 off 39 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. Umair Ali chipped in with an unbeaten 11 and Future Mattress won with three balls to spare.

 

Brief scores:
Future Mattress bt Z Game Strikers by 5 wkts. Z Game Strikers 149 for 7 in 20 overs (Shahrukh Muhammad Amin 21, Lovepreet Bajwa 23, Safeer Tariq 55, Shahzad Adil  2 for 20) Future Mattress 150 for 5 in 19.3 overs (Fayyaz Ahmed 54,o, Syed Haider Shah 42, Nilansh Keswani 3 for 16, Nadir Hussain for 27)
Player of the Match: Fayyaz Ahmed

 

Haider Ali strikes with four-wicket spell

 

InterGlobe Marine won the toss and elected to bat. They got off to a good start with openers Sandeep Singh and Yasir Kaleem putting on 68 run in 7.2 overs. Sandeep Singh who went for his shots raced to his 50 before getting bowled to Vikum Sanjay Banadara. His knock off 26 balls had nine boundaries and a six. Four runs later, Yasir Kaleem got caught behind by wicketkeeper Farman Ali off Haider Ali for 15. Shahnawaz Khan too followed quickly clean bowled by Muhammad Irfan for a duck.

 

The fall of quick wickets nullified the impact of the good start. More wickets fell in quick succession. Umer Farooq was trapped leg before to Haider Ali for 13. When Touqeer Riyasat too got run out for 14, half the side was back in the dug-out for 97 in 15.2 overs.

 

Danish Qureshi and Umer took the score past the 100-run mark, but at the score on 116, Qureshi got out to Haider Ali for 7. Five runs later, Umer followed clean bowled by Haider Ali for 11. Mujahid Amin got run out to the last ball of the innings for a duck and InterGlobe Marine got restricted to 125 for 8.

 

Chasing the target, Seven Districts lost their opener Raees Ahmad to the second ball of the first over from Danish Qureshi for a duck. This was followed by a 42-runs partnership for the second wicket between Junaid Khan Afrifi and Muhammad Irfan before Afrifi got out clean bowled by Mohammad Taimoor for 22. Muhammad Irfan carried the score to 76 in 12.3 overs but fell to Mujahid Amin for 37.

 

Muhammad Moshin took the score past the 100-run mark, when at the score on 113, he got caught behind by wicketkeeper Yasir Kaleem off Mohammad Taimoor for 30. Three runs later, Muhammad Saghir Khan fell to Touqeer Riyasat for 2. Though Farman Ali got trapped leg before to Umer Farooq, Atta Ur Rahim, through an unbeaten 22, along with skipper Muhammad Haider (5n.o), carried their team to the target with five balls to spare.

 

Brief scores:
Seven Districts bt InterGlobe Marine by 4 wkts. InterGlobe Marine 125 for 8 in 20 overs (Sandeep Singh 50, Haider Ali 4 for 15) Seven Districts 129 for 6 in 19.1 overs (Muhammad Irfan 37, Junaid Khan Afrifi 22, Muhammad Moshin 30, Atta Ur Rahim 22n.o, Mohammad Taimoor 2 for 18)
Player of the Match: Haider Ali