Sharjah: UAE captain Rohan Mustafa displayed his tremendous form by steering One Stop Tourism to title triumph in the Sharjah T20 Summer Cup. He literally carried the team on his shoulders through his performances with bat and ball throughout the tournament, bagging the man of the match award in the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
In the final, Mustafa cracked 72 runs and led the way as One Stop Tourism’s captain while chasing Multiplex International’s total of 184 for five.
One Stop Tourism reached the target in 18.4 overs with Mustafa being given good support by Muhammad Ikram Jora (64) and Muhammad Usman (38 n.o) as they won by six wickets.
Speaking to Gulf News, Mustafa attributed his form to training on different types of wickets.
“I have been working hard on different types of wicket, especially on difficult ones. This is one of the strategies of the UAE coach (Dougie Brown) to train on different wickets and that has helped me. So I found Sharjah stadium wicket, which has a flat track, very easy to bat on. Being the man of the match in quarter-final, semi-final and final, I could have even won the player of the tournament award but I had to miss some of the early matches of this tournament as I was playing for UAE in Holland.”
It was Mustafa who carried One Stop Tourism into the final defeating Sharjah Cricket Club in the semi-final by just two runs. Mustafa hit 80 runs in the match and took two crucial wickets.
In the final, Mustafa got run out after a brilliant 72 from 39 balls with nine boundaries and three sixes He put on a 106-run for the third wicket with Jora.
Winning the toss, Multiplex got off to a good start with openers Waqas Raja and Sapandeep Singh put on 40 runs for the first wicket. Waqas Raja hit 36 runs while Sapandeep Singh scored 28 with just a six.
Saad Naseem and Abdul Shakoor put on fifth wicket stand of 53 through Shakoor (25) and Naseem’s unbeaten 44.
One Stop Tourism began badly losing two quick wickets before Mustafa changed the script. Jora hit 64 from 43 balls with five fours and two sixes while Muhammad Usman’s unbeaten 38 contained three fours and a six.
Brief scores: One Stop Tourism bt Multiplex International by six wkts. Multiplex International: 184 for 5 in 20 overs (Waqas Raja 36, Sapandeep Singh 28, Mohammad Yasir Ali 20, Saad Naseem 44n.o, Abdul Shakoor 25, Umair Ali Khan 2 for 20). One Stop Tourism: 190 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Rohan Mustafa 72, Muhammad Ikram Jora 64, Muhammad Usman 38n.o). Man of the final: Rohan Mustafa
Individual awards: Best Batsman: Muhammad Ikram — 247 Runs, Best Bowler: CP Rizwan (12 wkts) Player of the Tournament: Renjith Mani (264 run & 8 wkts )
