Syed Haider Shah follows up his 90 with an unbeaten 107 in Seven Districts’ winning run

By K.R. Nayar

Sharjah. Syed Haider Shah, who had missed his century by ten runs against Z Games Strikers, cracked an unbeaten 107 to steer Seven Districts Cricket Academy to a five-wicket victory over UAE Development XI in the 49th Bukhatir League, sponsored by Seven Districts, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday. Promoted up the batting order from No. 6 to the one-drop position, he lived up to his captain and team management’s expectations with a match-winning knock off 127 balls, which included 13 boundaries and a six.

Syed Haider Shah received the Player of the Match award from match referee Tehseen Javed 

UAE Development XI, made up of budding cricketers, elected to bat first and posted 238, thanks to Noorullah Ayoubi’s 65 off 67 balls (six boundaries and four sixes) and Prithvi Madhu’s 50 off 70 balls (four boundaries). Haider Shah literally carried his team smoothly to the target, dominating the Development XI attack.

Tale behind Haider Shah’s century

Speaking about his century that helped Seven Districts chase down the target with two overs to spare, Shah said: “It feels amazing to score a hundred in a winning cause and I am very grateful for everything and to everyone.” It was his breezy 90 off 71 balls against Z Games Strikers that got him promoted up the order. “I knew even the day I hit 90 that I could have got a hundred, but whatever Allah has planned for you will only happen. So I made sure to chase down the total, and by doing so, I eventually got to my century.”

Syed Haider Shah with the Player of the Match award. Click cricketlovers.com for extensive coverage of the 49th Bukhatir League 

Twenty-four-year-old Haider Shah, also known as Wasi Shah, owes his success to his team owner. “All my knocks are meant to prove that I am a long-format player too. I am grateful to Haider Bhai (owner) for supporting and backing me to show my skill in this longer format. I had this feeling that I should bat at No. 3, and I am happy it worked out pretty well for me when I got the chance. Now I hope that it stays like that throughout,” said Haider Shah, whose century is his fourth in the Bukhatir League. “My highest score is 136 against TVSL in 2022,” he added.

Noorullah Ayoubi.. top scores for UAE Development XI with 65 runs 

Development XI could have posted a bigger score but for the early dismissal of their star batter Zainullah Khan off the fifth ball of the first over, caught by Wahab Hassan off Lahiru Sandaruwan for 8. Opener Ayaan Misbah and one-drop Noorullah took the score to 56 by the 11th over when Muhammad Rohaan trapped Ayaan leg before for 18. Next batter Rayan Khan provided support to Noorullah, who was stroking fluently. He hit Rohaan for two consecutive sixes in the 13th over and raced to his half-century in 58 balls.

UAE Development  XI skipper Madhav Manoj Nair with Seven Districts skipper Aftab Javed during the toss

At the score of 95, Rayan Khan fell for 8, caught behind by wicketkeeper Farman Ali off Irfan Yousafzai. Prithvi Madhu joined Noorullah and steered the score past the 100-run mark. At 106, Yousafzai ended Noorullah’s fine knock by having him caught by Aftab Javed for 65. Atta and Prithvi, despite some tight bowling, took the score to 150 in 33 overs. After two more runs were added, Atta fell caught and bowled by Wahab Hassan for 22. This ended the Prithvi–Atta 46-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Skipper Madhav Manoj Nair lasted only ten balls to score four runs before falling to Saqib Ali, caught by Tharindu Perera. Prithvi, who kept the scoreboard moving, got a good partner in wicketkeeper Saleh Amin. They took the score past the 200-run mark in the 45th over. Prithvi reached his half-century in 69 balls. Rohaan picked up his second wicket, removing Prithvi for 50, caught by Muhammad Irfan. The pair had put on 63 runs for the seventh wicket.

Amin too departed quickly, falling to Yousafzai for 37. His 40-ball knock included four boundaries. Rohaan clean-bowled Yug Sharma for 3, while last man Abdullah Ismail got run out to a throw from Irfan. Karn Dhiman remained unbeaten on 12 as Development XI were bowled out for 238.

Chasing the target, openers Zainullah and Muhammad Irfan scored 59 runs in 11.3 overs. Abdullah Ismail ended the partnership by having Zainullah caught behind by wicketkeeper Saleh Amin for 36. His 35-ball knock included four boundaries and a six, which came off the delivery before he got out. In walked Haider Shah, the hero of the day. Initially, he supported Muhammad Irfan, who was in full flow. Irfan hit Aliasgar Shums for two sixes in the 13th over.

Shah picked his first boundary off Ismail. At 86, Irfan fell leg before to Ismail for 38. His 47-ball knock had two boundaries and three sixes. Skipper Aftab Javed, fresh from two centuries, joined Shah, who steered the total past the 100-run mark with two consecutive boundaries off Shums. They put on 45 runs for the third wicket before Javed got run out off a throw from Atta for 12.

Next batter Ahmad Khan quickly got out to Ismail, caught by Karan Dhiman for 13. When Ismail also got Wahab Hassan caught by Shums for a duck, Seven Districts slipped to 155 for 5. Ismail returned with figures of 4 for 42 from his 10 overs, claiming four of the five wickets that fell.

Abdullah Ismail .. bags four out of the five wickets 

Shah, who had reached his 50 in 68 balls, and Farman Ali took up the challenge of guiding their team to victory. Shah hit successive boundaries off Ismail and Yug Sharma. The pair took the score past the 200-run mark in the 42nd over. Shah raced to his 100 in 119 balls. They put on an unbeaten 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Farman Ali remained unbeaten on 29, finishing the match with a six off Noorullah that took his team to the target. Haider Shah remained unbeaten on 107 and ensured his team a clean slate of three wins from three matches.

Brief scores:
Seven Districts Cricket Academy bt UAE Development XI by 5 wkts.  UAE Development XI 238 in 50 overs (Nooorullah Ayoubi 65, Prithvi Madhu 50, Atta 22, Saleh Amin 37, Muhammad Rohaan 3 for 31, Irfan Yousafzai 2 for 46) Seven Districts Cricket Academy 242 for 5 in 48 overs (Zainullah 36, Muhammad Irfan 38, Syed Haider Shah 107n.o, Farman Ali 29n.o, Abdullah Ismail 4 for 42)
 Player of the Match:  Syed Haider Shah