Seven Districts’ Raees Ahmad’s timely 64 downs Z Game Strikers while Future Mattress’ Alishan Sharafu’s breezy 75 stops Shahram Dubai Knights

By K.R. Nayar

Raees Ahmad’s brilliant knock of 64 runs helped Seven Districts pull off an exciting 16-runs win over Z Game Strikers in the 29th Bukhatir League at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday. This was the first match after the resumption of this tournament that was on a short break for the UAE-West Indies series held at the same venue. Seven Districts posted 142 mainly due to Raees Ahmad’s 64 runs off 40 balls with four boundaries and five sixes, after which they restricted Z Game Strikers 126 for 8 in 20 overs despite Nilansh Keswani’s unbeaten 50.

 

In the second match, Alishan Sharafu played a stupendous knock of 75 runs off 41 balls with eight boundaries and three sixes to help Future Mattress post 176 for 8 in 20 overs and record an exciting 10 runs win. Shahram Dubai Knights could muster only 166 for 5 in 20 overs despite Baber Agha’s unbeaten 63.

 

Raees Ahmad’s half century spurs Seven Districts

 

Z Game Strikers won the toss and elected to field. Seven Districts’ openers Atta Ur Rahim and Raees Ahmad put on 69 runs in 7.4 overs to give them a good start. Nilansh Keswani provided the breakthrough clean bowling Atta Ur Rahim for 9.  Adithya Shetty removed one-drop Abdul Ghaffar for 4. He also went on to clean bowl Lahiru Sandaruwan for 8. At the score of 100, opener Raees Ahmad, who had kept the scoreboard moving, got out to Nilansh Keswani for 64.

 

At the sore of 120, Muhammad Saghir Khan got out to Mubeen Malik for 11. Eleven runs later, Mubeen Malik also got Muhammad Kashif out for 16. Thereafter, wickets  kept falling in quick succession putting a break on the run flow. Nabeel Arshad got run out for 5 while Wahab Hassan got caught behind by wicketkeeper Moazam off Mubeen Malik for 2. Zeeshan Naseer got out to the last ball of the innings getting caught and bowled by Mubeen Malik for a duck. Seven Districts was thus bowled out for 142 in 20 overs.

 

Z Game Strikers chased this gettable total through a poor start. They lost their opener and skipper Shahrukh Muhammad Amin, clean bowled by Zeeshan Naseer for a duck. Lovepreet Bajwa was clean bowled by Haider Ali for 5 at the score of 20. Ten runs later, the consistent Moaza got out quickly to Zeeshan Naseer for 5. In another ten runs, Ronak Panoly was clean bowled by Muhammad Saghir Khan for 21.

 

From 40 for 4 before the end of the powerplay, Sardar Bahazad and Nilansh Keswani took the score to 74 in 12 overs. Sardar Bahazad was then trapped leg before by Raees Ahmad for 12. Muhammad Furqan Khalil stayed on to pull the team towards the target but he too was trapped leg before by Haider Ali for 13. When Shahid Bhutta was clean bowled by Zeeshan Naseer for 3 at the score of 101, Z Games Strikers’ hopes of a victory began to fade. Though Adithya Shetty and Nilansh Keswani tried hard to accelerate the run flow, they did not succeed. Shetty fell to Haider Ali for 7. In the end, Z Game Strikers were restricted to 126 for 8 in 20 overs, and they lost by 16 runs. Nilansh Keswani remained unbeaten on 50 off 44 balls studded with four boundaries.

 

Brief scores:
Seven Districts bt Z Game Strikers by 16 runs. Seven Districts 142 in 20 overs (Raees Ahmad 64, Mubeen Malik 4 for 26, Adithya Shetty 2 for 26, Nilansh Keswani 2 for 25) Z Game Strikers 126 for 8 in  20 overs (Ronak Panoly 21, Nilansh Keswani 50n.o, Zeeshan Naseer 3 for 21, Haider Ali  3 for 22)
Player of the Match: Raees Ahmad

 

Brilliant batting by Alishan Sharafu

 

Future Mattress won the toss and elected to bat. Opener and skipper Hameed Khan fell at the score of 19 to Sameer Chand for 13. Soon opener Abdul Shakoor followed clean bowled by Waseem Akram for 6. This was followed by an 88 runs partnership for the third wicket between Alishan Sharafu and Saif Janjua. Muhammad Shahram ended this partnership at the score of 113 when he  removed Saif Janjua for 29. Six runs later, Syed Haider Shah became another Sameer Chand victim for 1.

At the score of 135, Alishan Sharafu got out to Abubakar Khan for 75. The experienced Amjad Gul then swelled the total to 159 scoring 21 runs before falling to Abubakar Khan. Seven runs later, Uzair Khan got run out for 11. Usman fell to the last ball of the innings to Waseem Akram for 10 and Future Mattress posted 176 for 8 in 20 overs.

Shahram Dubai Knights began their chase losing opener Muhammad Irfan at the score of 15 caught behind by wicketkeeper Abdul Shakoor off Akif Raja for 3. One-drop Uzair Maan got clean bowled to Muhammad Azhar for 8. Abdul Khaliq kept the scoreboard moving by scoring 27 runs and taking the score to 60 before he got bowled to Amjad Gul.  Another good partnership of 56 runs for the fourth wicket followed between skipper Zahid Ameer and Baber Agha.

 

But at the score of 116, a run out changed the course of the game. Zahid Ameer got run out for 45, and that affected the run flow. Faisal Baig got run out to the last ball of the match for 10. Baber Agha remained unbeaten on 63 off 42 balls with eight boundaries and a six. Shahram Dubai Knights was thus restricted to 166 for 5 in 20 overs and they lost the match by 10 runs. In the last over bowled by Alishan Sharafu, Shahram Dubai Knights could take only 10 runs.

 

Brief scores:
Future Mattress bt Shahram Dubai Knights by 10 runs. Future Mattress 176 for 8 in 20 overs (Alishan Sharafu 75, Saif Janjua 29, Amjad Gul 21, Sameer Chand 2 for 42, Waseem Akram 2 for 16, Abubakar Khan 2 for 37) Shahram Dubai Knights 166 for 5 in 20 overs (Abdul Khaliq 27,  Zahid Ameer 45, Baber Agha 63n.o)
Player of the Match: Alishan Sharafu