Kiran Mohan spearheads newcomers Goodrich Gladiators’ stunning four-wicket win over Z Game Strikers while Umar Arshad steers The Vision Shipping past Shahram Dubai Knights by five wickets

By K.R. Nayar

Kiran Mohan’s timely knock of 36 lifted newcomers Goodrich Gladiators to an exciting four wicket win over Z Game Strikers with three balls to spare in the ninth match of the 29th Bukhatir League T20 contest on Saturday night at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. In the tenth match, The Vision Shipping recorded a five-wicket win over Shahram Dubai Knights  riding on Umar Arshad’s knock of 51 runs.

 

Kiran Mohan’s valuable knock spur Goodrich Gladiators

 

Z Games Strikers won the toss and elected to bat. Opener and skipper Shahrukh Muhammad Amin along with opener Muhammad Furqan Khalil put on 67 runs in 7.5 overs. Muhammad Furqan Khalil got out to Shawn George after he had scored 34 runs. Shahrukh Muhammad Amin took the score to 72 along with Moazam before Muhammad Amin got out to Fayas for 27. Moazam steered the total past the 100 runk mark with Zainullah.

 

At the score of 139, Moazam, who had batted fluently, got out to Kumaran Raj for 36. Zainullah carried the score to 155 when he got out to Kiran Mohan for 39. Soon Faisal Altaf got out to Umar Maqsood for 8. Umar Maqsood also got Awais Nazir clean bowled for a duck to the fifth ball of the last over. In then end, Z Game Strikers posted 172 for 6 in 20 overs.

 

Chasing a run rate of 8.60 was meant to be a tough task for newcomers Goodrich Gladiators. However, showing no signs of being newcomers, they went about the task confidently. Openers Sowrabh Kesari and Raweem Babar put on 46 runs in 5.3 overs. The partnership ended when Raweem Babar got run out for 16. Sowrabh Kesari too fell to Shahrukh Muhammad Amin for 24 at the score of 58. Banty Nandy got caught behind by wicketkeeper Moazam off Faisal for 23 after taking the score to 87 in 10.4 overs.

 

Shawn George then pushed the score to 127 before getting out to Shahid Butta for 16. At a time when it seemed like the match was slipping out of Goodrich Gladiators, Kiran Mohan played a timely knock of 36 to take the total closer to the target. Yuvraj Barua too chipped in with 20 before being run out to the second ball of the last over. Umar Maqsood (11n.o,) and Kumaran Rajan (4n.o) then took the team to the target. Z Games Strikers had also given away 25 extras that helped Goodirch Gladiators secure a four-wicket win in 19.3 overs.

 

Brief scores:
Goodrich Gladiators bt Z Game Strikers by 4 wkts. Z Game Strikers 172 for 6 in 20 overs (Shahrukh Muhammad Amin 27, Muhammad Furqan Khalil 34, Moazam 36, Zainullah 39, Umar Maqsood 2 for 19) Goodrich Gladiators 175 for 6 in 19.3 overs (Sowrabh Kesari 24, Banty Nandy 23, Kiran Mohan 36, Yuvraj Barua 20)
Player of the Match: Kiran Mohan

 

Umar Arshad’s valuable knock of 51 gives The Vision Shipping victory

 

The Vision Shipping won the toss and elected to field. Shahram Dubai Knight’s openers Abdul Khaliq and Ahsan Sultan put on 33 runs in the first four overs. Rohid got Abdul Khaliq out for 16. Ahsan Sultan too followed after scoring 25 runs and falling to Ubaidullah Muhammad for 25. Skipper Zahid Zameeer fell to his counterpart Saqib Mehmood for 5.

 

Ubaidullah Muhammad also got to Said Umar Shah for 5. When half the side was back in the dug-out, Zeehsan got clean bowled to Shahnawaz Khan for 3. The sixth batsman to fall was Muhamad Shahram also clean bowled by Shahnawaz Khan for 4. Wickets continued to fall regularly with Sikander Khan being removed by Shahbaz Ali for 12. At the score of 80, Abubakar Khan got run out. Then it became evident that Shahram Dubai Knights score would not be able to get past the 100-run mark. Later, Shahnawaz Khan clean bowled Intikhab Maan for 2, while Muhammad Umari got clean bowled by  Ubaidaullah Muhammad also for 2. Thus Shahram Dubai Knights were bowled out for 90 runs in 17.5 overs.

 

The Vision Shipping began their chase on a disastrous note. Opener Saqib Mehmood fell to the third ball of the first over from Abubakar Khan for a duck.  One-drop Zeeshan Abid too fell for a duck. This was followed by a 28 runs partnership between Ali Abid and Umar Ashad. At the score of 48, Ali Abid got clean bowled to Sikander Khan for 8.

Umar Arshad went for his shots and dominated the bowling despite the bowlers striking repeatedly. He cracked 51 off 23 balls with six boundaries and two sixes to virtually carry the team on his sholders to the target. At the score of 90, Umar Arshad got out to Faris Faisal. After the fall of Umar Arshad, Nasir Faraz stood strongly to score an unbeaten 9. Ubaidullah hit a six as the winning shot and remained unbeaten with 6. The Vision Shipping this won the match by five wickets in 10 overs.

 

Brief scores:
The Vision Shipping bt Shahram Dubai Knights by 5 wkts. Shahram Dubai Knights 90 in 17.5 overs (Ahsan Sultan 25, Ubaidullah Muhammad 3 for 15, Shahnazwaz Khan 3 for 7) The Vision Shipping 96 for 5 in 10 overs (Umar Arshad 51, Abubakar Khan 3 for 22)
Player of the Match: Umar Arshad