In a Group A match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Multiplex recorded their second successive victory when they reached the target of 189 with the last pair at the crease.
Multiplex won the toss and decided to field first. The decision seemed right when Tigers were rocked by early wickets and were left tottering at 26 for three.
Ghulam Shabbir (17, 35b, 1×4) and Nasir Aziz (34, 82b, 2×4) then put together a patient 46-run partnership to revive the innings before another couple of wickets pegged them back again.
It was finally left to a painstaking unbeaten knock of 41 from 110 deliveries by Asif Mumtaz, with the help of just two boundaries, and a comparatively quickfire 23 in 22 balls by Sultan Ahmed, that Alubond Tigers managed to reach 188 in 46.3 overs.
Multiplex’s Qadeer Ahmed was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 33 runs in his 8.3 overs.
He was later named Man of the Match. Ahmed was well supported by Imran Haider (2-29) and Mohammad Yasir (2-49).
Multiplex International got off to a reasonably good start with openers Sapandeep Singh (14, 20b, 1×4, 1×6) and Imran Ali (22, 48b, 3×4) sharing a 28-run stand for the opening wicket.
However, the chase was abruptly halted when Multiplex lost a few quick wickets with three batsmen getting out on single-digit scores.
At 61 for five, they looked out of reckoning before Laxman Manjrekar and Haroon Ahmed got the innings back on track.
Manjrekar stuck around for a while, scoring a steady 25-ball 20, which consisted of a boundary and a six. Ahmed continued to play at ease, mixing caution with aggression, as he hit 40 from 86 deliveries with the help of three boundaries and a six.
Skipper Zeeshan Khan helped his team inch closer to the victory scoring a 49-ball 27 that included four boundaries before he was run out.
Imran Haider then wiped out another 19 from the target before he too succumbed, also run out of the penultimate ball of the innings.
But his partner Asif Abbas smashed a boundary off the last ball to ensure Multiplex International won on the last ball of the innings.
Abbas remained unbeaten on 18 from 15 deliveries containing a boundary and a six.
