Sharjah: The Globelink WestStar Shipping team that set a new record for the highest score by posting 518 for four in 50 overs in the One Stop Tourism 43rd Bukhatir Premier League last week, carried their momentum in to their next match to pull off a 20 runs victory over a strong Alubond Tigers team at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The star performer for Globelink was UAE team pacer Amjad Javed. He produced a deadly spell of five wickets for 43 to end Alubond’s run chase. Javed was backed by M.M. Shanib with three wickets for 54.
Speaking to Gulf News after his second five-wicket spell in this oldest tournament in the UAE, Javed said: “Both my five wicket spells in this tournament has been against Alubond. Frankly, I did not expect to get five wickets as I played the match after a full morning training session for the UAE team at the ICC Cricket Academy. I feel fitness is the key factor behind my performance as the UAE team physical trainer Peter Kelly has made me fitter and stronger. He pushes me hard during training sessions and that helped me push hard for the wickets too in matches.”
Batting first, Globelink WestStar posted 265 in 48 overs through Puneeth Kumar’s 62 and Jiju Janardhanan’s 70 runs. Alubond Tigers were bowled out for 245 in 45.3 overs despite Yassir Kaleem’s superb 106 runs.
In another match, Fly Emirates stopped ANIB XI by four wickets riding on a match-winning unbeaten half century from UAE player Krishna Chandran.
ANIB were bowled out for 191 in 48.1 overs through Shadeep Silva’s fine spell of four for 34. Though the target was easy, Fly Emirates lost some quick wickets before Krishna Chandran cracked an unbeaten 76 from 80 balls with eight boundaries and a six.
Brief Scores: Globelink WestStar bt Alubond Tigers by 20 runs. Globelink WestStar 265 in 48 overs (Puneeth Kumar 62, Renjith Mani 22, Jiju Janardhanan 70, Vineeth Viswanathan 33, Shanib MM 25n.o; Sultan Ahmed 3 for 26, Asif Mumtaz 3 for 36, Nasir Aziz 2 for 56). Alubond Tigers 245 in 45.3 overs (Yassir Kaleem 106, Mohammad Qasim 39, CP Rizwan 38, Amjad Javed 5 for 47, Shanib MM 3 for 54). Man of the match: Amjad Javed.
Fly Emirates bt ANIB XI on Top by 4 wkts. ANIB XI on Top 191 in 48.1 overs (Shinoy John 26, Ahsan Shehzad 56, Fanoos 58; Shadeep Silva 4 for 34, Ahmad Nizam 2 for 31, Irfan Arif 2 for 30). Fly Emirates: 193 for 6 in 32.4 overs (Krishna Chandran 76n.o, Ahmad Nizam 24; Sabir Rao 3 for 40, Ronak Khandelwal 2 for 50). Man of the match: Krishna Chandran.
