Mixed joy for Alubond Tigers in Arabian Cricket League Twenty20 tournament

Sport360 staff 15:46 08/03/2015
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  • A win and a loss marked the Alubond Tigers' first two matches in the Arabian Cricket League at ICC Cricket Academy.

    It was a case of joy and pain for the Alubond Tigers as its players got their Arabian Cricket League (ACL) campaign underway with a win and a loss at the ICC Academy at Dubai Sports City.

    The Tigers beat Al Faraa by 12 runs but then suffered a four-wicket defeat at the hands of the Danube Lions.

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    It means the team’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals in the eight-team tournament made up of eight Dubai Cricket Council ‘A’ Division teams rests on a victory against One Stop Tourism in its final Pool A match, as only the top two sides in each pool progress to the knock-out stage.

    The latest round of matches – three in total – all involved Pool A action and the Alubond Tigers got off to the perfect start with that win over Al Faraa.

    Batting first, the Tigers rattled up 166 for eight with openers Waqas (27 from 22 balls) and player of the match Prashanth (50 off 27 balls, including a six and five fours) setting the tone.

    The duo took 55 from the first five overs on the way to an opening stand of 60, and although Ajmal (2-24), Chetan (2-23) and Wajid (1-27) slowed the scoring, Zeshan then gave the innings some late impetus with 36 from 28 deliveries.

    In reply, Al Faraa was never really in contention as Umair (3-29) and later Salman (2-12) picked up important wickets, while two run-outs also did nothing to assist the Al Faraa cause.

    Danube slipped to 92-4, and with five overs left still required 54. That looked a tricky assignment but in the end the Lions got home with a ball to spare thanks to a blazing contribution from Fakhar Zaman, whose 59 occupied just 25 deliveries and included four sixes and five fours.

    Zakir Malik, who had earlier starred with the bat for the Tigers, coped much of the punishment handed out by Fakhar as his 3.5 overs cost 50. Mohammad Yasir was Alubond’s stand-out bowler with two for 27 from his four overs.

    The results put One Stop Tourism and the Danube Lions in charge of Pool A with their victories, while the Alubond Tigers will need to beat One Stop to stand a chance of making it through to the last four; for Al Faraa, that chance appears gone.

    In Pool B, Team Interface has two wins from two starts, against Fly Emirates and Ibsons, while Grand Midwest is yet to start its campaign.   

    There are a total of 12 pool matches ahead of the semi-finals and the Grand Final on 20 March.

    Anyone interested in getting more information about the ICC Academy can call +971 4 448 1355, email [email protected] or can visit the ICC Academy website at www.iccacademy.net.

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