Crisis hero Yasir Kaleem’s century carries GHK Properties into Bukhatir League final

By K.R. Nayar

Sharjah. Yasir Kaleem, who has a history of being the crisis man in UAE’s domestic cricket, lifted GHK Properties from a top-order collapse to a four-wicket win over Z Games Strikers in the second semi-final of the 49th Bukhatir League, sponsored by Seven Districts, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday. He hit a blazing 108 runs off 94 balls, with 16 boundaries and three sixes.

Click crickelovers.com for indepth coverage of the 49th Bukhatir League 

Walking in to bat with his team tottering at 37 for 3 and later slipping to 73 for 4 while chasing a target of 265, Yasir, along with Mohit Kalyan—who cracked 68 runs off 54 balls with four boundaries and four sixes—won the match in 34.5 overs.

Mohit Kalyan.. timely 68 runs

Yasir and Mohit put on a 165-run partnership for the fifth wicket. In the last group match too against CSS Group, Yasir had hit a crucial 61 to help GHK finish on top of the table. It was a treat for everyone watching the second semi-final to witness how Yasir carved out his century. His wristy strokes to pick the gaps earned him many boundaries, and he backed his drives with enormous power.

Yasir speaks on why he is Mr Dependable

After his century, when I asked about his ability to rise to the challenge and win matches, Yasir said: “It's important to take responsibility as a senior player when it's a big occasion. The semi-final is the most important junction of the tournament. Happy to contribute to my team’s win.”

Yasir Kaleem celebrates on  reaching his century 

Receiving the Player of the Match award, he added: “Whichever team I play for, I’ve been given the role of a sheet anchor and I’ve always tried to live up to that role. The wicket was flat, and I knew that if I could bat without committing mistakes, I would be able to take the team to victory. Mohit and I batted positively to take the team to the final.”

Yasir  Kaleem receives the Player of the Match award from match referee Tehseen Javed 

Yasir believes that semi-finals are always the biggest matches of a tournament. “It is the semi-final that puts the team in the final. A final is where one has to express oneself. I have been part of the Bukhatir League final many times. It will be nice this time to be part of the final with GHK Properties as the winning team.”

The challenge for GHK was to reach the target without blemishes after they managed to restrict Z Games to 264 in 44 overs. In fact, Z Games’ batting collapsed due to the fine bowling from Shahbaz Ali (3 for 36) and Wasim Akram (3 for 50), well backed by Keshav Sharma (2 for 54).

Commentator Ahmed Khwaja, GHK Properties captain Humaj Gondal, Z Games Strikers skipper Shahrukh Muhammad Amin and match referee Tehseen Javed during the toss 

It wasn’t a smooth start for GHK, as Danish Qureshi clean bowled Rohan Mustafa with the first delivery of the innings. Skipper and opener Humaj Gondal hit Zeeshan Naseer for three consecutive boundaries in the second over, but Qureshi struck again to take the wicket of the consistent Sagar Kalyan, caught by Shahid Bhutta for 7.

Mayank Choudhary began by hitting Naseer for two consecutive boundaries, but Qureshi struck again to have Gondal caught behind by wicketkeeper Yash Sabnani for 15. Three down for 37, it was the start Z Games wanted—but Yasir turned the tale of the match. With Choudhary, he put on 36 runs for the fourth wicket to take the score to 73, and then launched the huge partnership with Mohit.

In the 17th over, Mohit hit Muhammad Azhar for a boundary and a six. He also hit Ronak Panoly for two sixes in the 21st over. Yasir reached his half-century in 64 balls. Mohit reached his half-century faster, off just 37 deliveries. By the 29th over, they had taken the score past the 200-run mark. In the 31st over, Yasir hit Muhammad Amin for a six and a boundary, while Mohit added one more boundary to take 17 runs off that over.

When Yasir was on 97, Shahrukh Muhammad Amin got Mohit out—caught by Muhammad Azhar—for 68. Yasir reached his century off 92 balls with a boundary off Muhammad Amin. In the 35th over, when GHK needed only seven more runs to win, Yasir was dismissed by Muhammad Amin, caught by Taimoor Ali, for 108. Keshav Sharma, by hitting Muhammad Amin for a boundary and a six off consecutive balls, won the match and remained unbeaten on 10, with Harshit Kaushik (8 not out).

Earlier, Z Games Strikers had elected to bat. Opener Alishan Sharafu, as usual, went for his shots right away. In the second over, he hit Muhammad Irrfan’s second delivery for a six, the third for a boundary, the fifth for another boundary, and the last ball for a six—to take 21 runs off that over. Wasim Akram got opener Ronak Panoly caught by Irrfan for 1.

Lovepreet Bajwa joined Alishan, and both unleashed their strokes. Bajwa began by hitting Akram for a boundary. Sharafu raced to his half-century in 33 balls and then hit Keshav Sharma for a six to take the total past the 100-run mark in 13 overs. In the 14th over, Alishan hit Sharma for two consecutive sixes. Irrfan struck in the 20th over to get Alishan out for 84, caught by Mohit Kalyan. This ended the 119-run partnership for the second wicket.

Stage set for the final on July 2 between GHK Properties and Seven Districts Cricket Academy

Skipper Shahrukh Muhammad Amin, who joined Bajwa, maintained the run flow. Bajwa reached his half-century in 57 balls. He went on to hit Rohan Mustafa for a six and a boundary in the 26th over, and Z Games’ score read a strong 176 for 2. Akram struck in the 29th over to remove a well-set Bajwa, caught by Mohit Kalyan for 71. Soon, Keshav Sharma too had Muhammad Amin stumped by Sagar Kalyan for 20.

Aryan Saxena hit Sharma for a six but was run out for 10 to a throw from Mayank Choudhary. Sharma then went on to get Taimoor Ali caught and bowled for 21. Z Games’ score slipped to 236 for 6. Shahbaz Ali struck twice in the 39th over to remove Yash Sabnani and Zahid Ali, both caught behind by wicketkeeper Sagar Kalyan, for 9 and 8 respectively. This scuttled Z Games’ hopes of posting a total of over 300.

Shahbaz Ali bagged his third wicket in the 43rd over, having Danish Qureshi caught by Yasir for 5. Akram picked up his third wicket too, getting last man Muhammad Azhar caught by Harshit Kaushik for 8. Z Games collapsed from a strong 150 for 1 in 20 overs to 264 all out in 44 overs.

Brief scores:
GHK Properties bt Z Games Strikers by 4 wkts.  Z Games 264 in 44 overs (Alishan Sharafu 84, Lovepreet Bajwa 71, Shahrukh Muhammad Amin 20, Taimoor Ali 21, Wasim Akram 3 for 50, Shahbaz Ali 3 for 36, Keshav Sharma 2 for 54) GHK Properties 268 for 6 in 34.5 overs (Mayank Choudhary 29, Yasir Kaleem 108, Mohit Kalyan 68, Danish Qureshi 3 for 35, Shahrukh Muhammad Amin 2 for 36)
Player of the Match: Yasir Kaleem