Ashfaq Ahmed and Farhan Ahmed led Danube Lions to a comprehensive victory over Team Interface in their Elite Cricket Cup opener in Dubai.
Ahmed struck a fluent 83 runs to help Danube post 252-8, while Team Interface had no answer to Farhan’s bowling, taking five wickets to seal a 79-run win.
Ibsons followed suit at the Fairgrounds Oval, beating The Blues by 49 runs in a low-scoring game.
Team Interface’s decision to field first proved to be a mistake as Danube’s openers Ahmed and Asif Iqbal rattled 73 runs in quick time.
Iqbal chipped in with 22 but Tharindu Mendis joined Ahmed and continued to score freely, putting on a 72-run partnership.
Mendis (29) was soon sent back to the pavilion while Ashfaq saw his 83-run knock from 108 balls end by Anil Adnani.
Interface’s agony was not over yet as Samiullah Younis kept piling on the runs to remain unbeaten on 37 from 50 balls.
With a tough target, Hafeez Kaleem (43), Farhaan Babar (32) and Mohammad Ibtisam (31 n.o.) did well in their chase. But Team Interface faltered against some accurate bowling from Farhan who finished with figures of 5-23.
Meanwhile, Ihan Ali’s four-wicket haul went in vein as Ibsons came out on top over The Blues.
After winning the toss and putting Ibsons in Ihsan (4-28), Yodhin Punja (3-44) and Simon Charles (2-22) did well to restrict them to 143 in 36.3 overs.
But The Blues’ batsmen were all at sea against the Ibsons bowlers with only Shewank Kumar top-scoring with 31.
