Warriors Cricket Club’s Riaz Khaliq Kaku produces a hat-trick to wreck First Abu Dhabi Bank while CSS Group’s Nipun Babu bags four wickets to stun Future Mattress on a bowlers’ day at Sharjah Cricket Stadium

By K.R. Nayar

It was a bowlers’ day in the 29th Bukhatir League T20 on Sunday night at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Riaz Khaliq Kaku produced a hat-trick to bowl out First Abu Dhabi Bank for 75 in 15 overs and help Warriors Cricket Club record a nine wicket win in the 11th match of the 29th Bukhatir League.

Nipun Babu, through a brilliant four wicket spell, helped CSS Group record a stunning eight-wicket win over Future Mattress in the 12th match. Future Mattress was bowled out for 84 and CSS Group won the match in 16 overs.

Riaz Khaliq Kaku’s hat-trick show

First Abu Dhabi Bank won the toss and elected to bat. Skipper and opener Sajish Siva scored eight out of the nine runs opening stand before falling to Arsalan Ahmed. One-drop Rahman Ghani got out to a duck, clean bowled also by Arsalan Ahmed. Next man Shabeeb then got out for a duck, clean bowled by Intizaar Ali. Opener Karthik, who kept the scoreboard moving, was caught behind by wicketkeeper Kaunain Abbas of Malinda Pushpakumara for 26. Half the side was back in the dug-out for 50 when Mujahid got clean bowled by Riaz Khaliq Kaku for 10.

Riaz Khaliq Kaku then went on to take a hat-trick trapping both Muhammad Aslam and Vivek Radhakrishnan leg before, each for a duck. Seven runs later, Noman Safdar got out to Rahul, caught by Riaz Khaliq Kaku for 4. Rahul then went on to remove the next two batters too, first clean bowling Naveen Karkera for 3 and then Venkatesh KV for 1. First Abu Dhabi Bank was thus bowled out for 75 in 15 overs.

Chasing the easy target, Warriors lost an early wicket of opener Faraazuddin to the fourth ball of the first over from Sajish Siva for a duck. Opener Shauriya Singh ensured that no more wickets fell and steered his team to the target. Shauriya remained unbeaten on 35 off 26 balls with five boundaries.

Skipper Kaunain Abbas too hit an unbeaten 35. His knock was quick as it came off just 16 balls with three boundaries and two sixes. Warrior Cricket Club raced to the target in 7.1 overs to record an emphatic nine wicket win.

Brief scores: 
Warriors Cricket Club bt First Abu Dhabi Bank by 9 wkts.  First Abu Dhabi Bank 75 in 15 overs (Karthik 26, Arsalan Ahmed 2 for 13, Riaz Khaliq Kaku 3 for 12, Rahul 3 for 12) Warriors Cricket Club 78 for 1 in 7.1 overs (Shauriya Singh 35n.o, Kaunain Abbas 35n.o)
Player of the Match: Riaz Khaliq Kaku

Nipun Babu’s four wicket spell in CSS Group’s stunning win

In the 12th match, Future Mattress won the toss and opted to bat. The star-studded batting line up cracked to the fine bowling by CSS and failed to give a good start. The first to go was opener Rohan Mustafa clean bowled by Farzeen Ahmed for 4. Opener Muhammad Waseem too followed falling to Gihan Chathuranga for 1. Experienced Abdul Shakoor then got out to Gihan Chathuranga for 1. From 12 for 3 in two overs, Dawood Ejaz took the score to 26 in 4.4 overs when he too became another Farzeen Ahmed victim.

Amjad Gul and Yasir fought hard to take the score to 43 when Gul got bowled by Nipun Babu for 7. Yasir who kept the scoreboard moving too got caught behind by wicketkeeper Abhinand Maladath off Nipun Babu for 20. Nipun Babu also clean bowled Hameed Khan for a duck. Zohaib clean bowled M Uzair Khan for 17. Nipun Babu continued to strike and trapped Muhammad Azhar leg before for a duck. When Zohaib clean bowled Saif Janjua, Future Mattress got bowled out for 84 in 14.1 overs.

CSS Group chased the moderate total without any difficulty. They lost opener Abhinand Maladath for 2 to Muhammad Azhar at the score of 19. One-drop Fazal Oasis and opener Zohaib batted smoothly to guide their team to 62 for 2 in 10 overs. Later, Fazal Oasis got clean bowled to Muhammad Waseem for 28. Zohaib went on to remain unbeaten on 37 off 54 balls with two boundaries and a six. Together with Abhiram Hrithwik (8n.o), they carried their team to the target in 16 overs. CSS Group thus recorded a stunning eight wicket win.

 

Brief scores:

Future Mattress bt CSS Group by 8 wkts. Future Mattress 84 in 14.1 overs (Yasir 20, Farzeen Ahmed 2 for 16, Gihan Chathuranga 2 for 14, Nipun Babu 4 for 21, Zohaib 2 for 16) CSS Group 85 for 2 in 16 overs (Zohaib 37n.o, Fazal Oasis 28)

Player of the Match: Nipun Babu