Umm Al Quwain. Umm Al Quwain Cricket Club concluded their summer league just before the start of the winter with Red Flowers-Chargers emerging as the champions. In this night tournament final, Red Flowers defeated Nobel Stallions by 56 runs mainly through a splendid allround show from Nadir Husain.
Batting first, Chargers made 178 for seven in 20 overs. Bilal Irshad and Nadir Husain put the team on the road for a good total. Both were unlucky to miss out on their half centuries by just one run.
Irshad smashed three boundaries and three sixes during his 32-ball stay before being caught on 49 while Husain stayed till the end to remain unbeaten on 49 from 36 deliveries with four hits to the boundary and one six.
Chargers would have made a bigger score but for Stallions’ Mohammad Salman Randhawa who bowled brilliantly to claim three wickets giving away only three runs in his four overs.
Chasing the total, Stallions were restricted to 122 though Husain’s spell of 3 for 30 well backed by Misbah Khan with three wickets for 16 runs. Stallions suffered two early falls but Mohammad Boota hit 29 runs with six boundaries. Waheed Ahmed (27) and Randhawa (22) tried to steady the run flow but the disciplined bowling from Chargers resulted in Stallions being restricted to 122 in 15.5 overs.
Khalaf AR Bukhatir, son of Abdul Rahman Bukhatir gave away the trophy. Chargers captain Mudassir Ali after receiving the trophy said: “We have had a fantastic tournament. We won eight of our nine matches and we are delighted with our performance. Our boys did a great job to keep their focus and perform when it mattered.”
Brief scores: Red Flowers-Chargers bt Nobel Stallions by 56 runs. Red Flowers-Chargers: 178 for 7 in 20 overs (Hafeez Kalim 28, Bilal Irshad 49, Nadir Husain 49n.o, Mohammad Salman Randhawa 3 for 3, Waheed Ahmed 2 for 18). Nobel Stallions: 122/10 in 15.5 overs (Mohammad Boota 29, Waheed 27, Mohammad Salman Randhawa 22; Nadir Husain 3 for 30, Misbah Khan 3 for 16, Zawar Farid 2 for 24, Vinod Banda 2 for 33). Man of the match: Nadir Husain
