Dubai Rhinos won the second edition of the Big Forty Cricket Tournament after registering a comfortable 17-run victory over Dubai Mammoths in the final.
At Dubai Rugby Sevens ground, it was the familiar sight of their tormenter-in-chief Dheeraj Raj that sealed the fate for Mammoths.
Raj, who started the tournament with a blistering unbeaten 100 against the same opponents, troubled Mammoths once again, this time hitting 55 in the Rhinos’ total of 189 for seven in 25 overs.
The prolific batsman was later adjudged the Man of the Final.
Mammoths had a good start but once their star batsman Ambey Parwatkar, later named Man of the Tournament, was run out, they lost wickets at regular interval and fell short of their target.
Rhinos skipper Lucky Abbas won the toss and elected to bat. He put 28 for the first wicket with Micky Sidhu (17), before Raj joined him.
Abbas was out for 24, and after the fall of four quick wickets, Raj found an able ally in Vinod Nair and they plundered runs until the latter was run out for 29 from 24 balls.
Raj finally got out for a well-made 55 from 30 balls, which included two sixes and five boundaries. Maqsood Sayed (2-37) and Parwatkar (2-27) were the successful bowlers for Mammoths.
Devendra Taneja and Riji Mohan had the best partnership of 54 runs for the seventh wicket for Mammoth. Taneja scored a quick-fire 34 from 25 balls (1×6, 4×4) and Riji contributed 26 from 22 balls.
In the end, Mammoths could only manage 171 for nine in allotted 25 overs. Biju Nair and Abbas took two wickets each for Rhinos.
