A three-wicket haul from Rahul Bhatia saw Green Wood defeat Emirates Avengers by nine wickets in the Sharjah T20 Summer Cup.
At Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Bhatia was in fine form with the ball, finishing with figures of 3-11 and ensuring a straight-forward victory for his team.
After Avengers decided to bat first, it did not take long for Bhatia to make an instant impact as he removed both openers early on.
Mohammad Irshad (23) and Hammad Farooqui (14) added to the team’s tally but the rest of the batsmen struggled at the crease with Bhatia taking his third victim later on as Avengers were restricted to a meagre 76-7 in their 20 overs.
Chasing a low target, there was no problem for Green Wood as Nawaz Sheikh’s unbeaten 22 and Laiq Ahmed’s 33-run knock saw the team home in the ninth over.
In another match, Rizwan Ahmed’s half-century proved to be the difference as Power House overcame GWB Super Kings by 57 runs.
Ahmed was in blistering form, scoring 74 runs from just 54 balls, which included seven boundaries and three sixes.
Power House upped the ante with Salman Randhawa hitting three sixes and two fours to score 37 while Naveed Rafiq chipped in with 16 from only seven deliveries as they reached 170-6.
Chasing what was a daunting target, Super Kings’ reply did not go according to plan. Wickets fell at regular intervals with only Noman Hussain (24) and Taimoor Sohrab (28) coming good with the bat.
They were all out for 113 in 17.2 overs. Omar Butt was the pick of the bowlers, claiming four wickets in his four overs, conceding just 11 runs while Umer Farooq took two.
Elsewhere, two half-centuries were enough for Iconic CC to beat Sewa by 73 runs. Having won the toss and electing to bat first, Iconic got off to a strong start with openers Faraz Khan and Nadeem Abbas putting on a 108- run stand for the first wicket.
Khan faced only 23 deliveries in his 45 runs, while Abbas smashed an impressive 83 from 62 balls, a knock that included nine boundaries and three sixes. Irfan Arif kept the scoreboard ticking with 50 runs from his 29 deliveries as Iconic reached 199-3. With a difficult task ahead, Sewa got off to a fine start with openers Hazrat Nabi (38) and Umar Bhut (19) sharing a 55-run partnership for the first wicket.
But once they fell, only Babar Ghanzanfar (23) showed some form of resistance while the other batsmen fell cheaply as Sewa were all out for 126 in 18 overs.
In another match, Defenders beat Oracle CC by seven wickets.
Chasing 83, Tahseen Zaidi and Yasir Maharvi scored 46 runs in the first six overs before Zaidi departed for 17. Maharvi remained unbeaten, hitting 52, as Defenders achieved the target in only 11.3 overs.
