Danube Lions clinched a thrilling four-run win over One Stop Tourism to earn a final showdown with Interface Transworld at the Sheikh Zayed stadium under lights on Friday, May 1.
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Danube were restricted to 118-9 after electing to bat first, but hit back to bowl OST all-out for 114, with Ali Faizal and Amir Hayat taking six wickets between them from a combined eight overs.
Opener Rohan Mustafa (26) and Mohammed Qasim (42) were the only two batsmen to reach double figures for OST after their bowlers had done the hard work.
Danube werer struggling at 65 for five but recovered to post a decent total thanks to a well constructed 37 off 40 balls from Imran Mohammed.
In the second semi-final, Mohammed Kadeer and Nadir Hussain took four wickets apiece to lead Interface to a 17-run vicory over William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana.
Electing to field first, Gymkhana enjoyed early success and had the top three batsmen from Interface back in the pavilion with the score at 56, but Mohammed Boota's half century and useful contributions from Ramveer Rai (28) and Bilal Rashid (25 not out) took their team’s total to 148 for five.
Gymkhana lost wickets at regular intervals bar opener Saqib Shah who struck 45 from 44 balls as they were bowled out for 131 with four balls to spare.
Scores in brief:
Danube Lions 118 for 9 in 20 overs (Imran Mohammed 37, Shahzad Manna 33, Noor Khan 2-14, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Asif Mumtaz 2-18, Mohammed Azhar 2-24) beat One Stop Tourism 114 all out in 19.2 overs (Mohammed Qasim 42, Rohan Mustafa 26, Ali Afzal 3-13, Amir Hayat 3-19).
Interface Transworld 148 for 5 in 20 overs (Mohammed Boota 54, Ramveer Rai 28, Bilal Irshad 25 not out, Tahir Butt 3-30) beat William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana 131 all out in 19.2 overs (Saqib Shah 45, Nadir Hussain 4-16, Mohammed Kadeer 4-18).
