Waheed smashed a blistering 72 off 33 balls in Global Distribution’s win over Oud Metha Cricket Club at the 13th Dulsco Ramadan Cricket Tournament, in a match that was disrupted by floodlight failures and had to be decided on the best scores after 15 overs of each team.
Requiring 229 for victory at Zabeel Park Cricket Ground in Dubai, Oud Metha were reduced to 104 for nine in 15 overs, thanks to Qasim’s haul of five wickets for 25 runs off his four overs.
Earlier, batting first, Global Distribution lost opener Yousuf (four), but Tariq then smashed 63 off 32 balls, which included five hits to the boundary and six over the ropes.
By the time Tariq was dismissed in the sixth over, Global Distribution had crossed the 100-run mark.
Amjad and Waheed then shored up the innings further, blasting nine fours and four sixes to take Global Distribution to a daunting 228 for five in 20 overs.
Amjad’s 51 came off 34 balls.
Chasing the big total, Oud Metha had no answer to Qasim, who tore through their batting line-up.
Owais topscored for Oud Metha with 41 (4×2, 6×3) and was one of just three batsmen to make it to double figures, with Kashif and Rizwan contributing 15 each.
Apart from Qasim, Murtaza claimed two wicket while Waheed, Afzal and Parvez picked up one each to restrict Oud Metha for 104 and give Global Distribution a winning start to their Dulsco Ramadan Cricket Tournament campaign.
Interface Transworld Cup
Meanwhile, an unbeaten 52-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Hassan Raza (37) and Shiraz Ahmad (30) enabled Alubond Tigers to pull off a thrilling two-wicket win over Fly Emirates in the second Interface Transworld Ramadan Cup 30-over cricket tournament at the Fairground Oval at Dubai Men’s College.
The duo came together when Alubond were struggling at 131 for eight. Former Pakistan international Raza, coming in at five down, held one side up while wickets tumbled at the other end.
Raza finally found a stable partner in Shiraz, who came in at No10, and the pair cut and pulled the Fly Emirates bowlers to all corners of the ground.
Raza’s 37 came off 29 balls with the help of four boundaries, while Shiraz took 24 deliveries for his 30 which included two fours and an equal number of sixes.
Shiraz was adjudged Man of the Match despite some brilliant bowling by Adil Reyal, who had destroyed Alubond’s top order by claiming five wickets.
Fly Emirates had won the toss and lost opener Marlon Fernando, Arshad Ali and Sagar Pawar early in the innings. But the middle-order came good with Krishna Chandra (28), Nigel Fernandes (36) and Qamar Hussain (29) adding respectability to the scoreboard.
Rahul Chattwani hit a brisk 24 off 19 balls towards the end to boost the total to 182 for 8 off 30 overs.
Alubond overhauled the total with three balls to spare.
