Omer Farooq once again emerged the match winner for Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas through a timely unbeaten 36 to ensure his team a five-wicket win over Northern Warriors – Defenders in the 12th match of the AJMAN T20 CUP powered By SKY EXCHANGE.NET at the Malek Stadium. Farooq was the hero of their one-run win over Deccan Gladiators – MGM in their previous match too. In that match, he sparkled with the ball through a fine three wicket spell and bowled a brilliant last over.
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| Omer Farooq receives the Man of the Match award from Muhammad Saifullah, Director Cricket Operations Ajman Cricket Council |
Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas had won the toss and elected to bowl. Northern Warriors – Defenders aggressive opener Sandeep Singh began in his usual style by hitting the first ball of the match for a boundary. In the second over, opener Farhan Babar and Sandeep Singh picked one boundary each off Shahnawaz Khan. In the third over, Sandeep Singh hit some powerful shots and cracked a six off Saqib Manshad. In the fourth over, he was even more aggressive hitting Shahnawaz Khan for a boundary and a six off successful deliveries. The 50 runs opening partnership came in 5.2 overs.
Left-arm spinner Mujahid Ameen provided the vital breakthrough by removing Sandeep Singh on 42 at the score of 61 in 7.3 overs. He had Sandeep caught by skipper Jiju Janardhanan at mid-off after his 26 ball knock that had five boundaries and two sixes. Eleven runs later, one-drop batsman Imran Od fell caught by Shahnawaz Khan at mid-wicket off Jiju Janardhanan for 10.
Farhan Babar and Yasir Kaleem then took charge and kept the scoreboard going. In the 11th over Babar hit Nelson Pinto for a six and a boundary off successive balls while Kaleem too scored his first boundary. At this stage, Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas floored a few chances and Northern Warriors – Defenders went past the 100-run mark in the 12th over.
Madhu Sharma bowled a tight 13th over giving away just seven runs. Omer Farooq’s 14th over too yielded only eight runs. Madhu Sharma, coming for his second over, had Yasir Kaleem caught at long-on by Mohammad Afzal for 28. The pair put on 57 runs for the third wicket.
In the 15th over, Omer Farooq clean bowled Farhan Babar for 49. His knock off 39 balls had six boundaries and one six. At the score of 137, Rizwan Amanat lifted Shahnawaz Khan to long on for 2. Haider Ali hit a quick 17 off 10 balls with one boundary and a six before being bowled by Shahnawaz Khan. Abdur Rehman chipped in with an unbeaten 14 and in the end Northern Warriors – Defenders posted a challenging 176 for 6.
Chasing the target, opener and skipper Jiju Janardhnan hit Taimoor Bhatti for two consecutive boundaries off the first two deliveries of the second over. He also hit the last ball of that over for a six over point to take 14 runs off that over. The third over saw opener Usman getting bowled by Yasir Maharvi for 1. Mohammad Afzal, who joined Jiju, ended that over by hitting Yasir Maharvi for two consecutive boundaries. Jiju scored his second six hitting Asif Mumtaz over long-on.
At the score of 56, Jiju was declared leg before off Yasir Maharvi for 31. His knock off 21 balls had three boundaries and two sixes. This brought in young Maroof Merchant joining Mohammad Afzal. The pair took the score past the 100-run mark. They put on 47 runs when Mohammad Afzal got caught by Asif Mumtaz off Hassan Khalid for 43. His knock off 30 balls had five boundaries and a six. At the score of 123, Maroof got caught behind by Yasir Kaleem off Hassan Khalid for 21. At the same score Tanvir Junaid got bowled by Rizwan Amanat for 18.
With 46 runs needed off the last four overs, Omer Farooq and Shahnawaz Khan took up the challenge. In the 18th over bowled by Rizwan Amanat, Farooq hit a boundary, six, another boundary and a six off the first four deliveries. Shahnawaz too hit the last ball of that over for a boundary to take 25 runs off that over.
This over shifted the match totally the Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas way. With 11 runs needed off the last 12 balls, the pair took seven runs off the ninth over. With four needed for victory off the last over, Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas won with three balls to spare. Omer Farooq remained unbeaten on 36 off 19 balls with two boundaries and two sixes while Shahnawaz Khan remained unconquered on 17 off eight balls with three boundaries. The pair had put on an unbeaten 54 runs to ensure their team’s victory.
Speaking about his second Man of Match winning performance, Omer Farooq said: “My role was to do well in the last five overs. I am also used to it. After yesterday’s bowling, I had a slight niggle in my back… so I focused on my batting. We cannot underestimate any team and will have to do our best to win our next matches.”
Brief scores:
Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas bt Northern Warriors – Defenders by 5 wkts. Northern Warriors – Defenders 176 for 6 in 20 overs (Sandeep Singh 42, Farhan Babar 49, Yasir Kaleem 28, Shahnawaz Khan 2 for 33) Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas 177 for 5 in 19.3 overs (Jiju Janardhanan 31. Mohammad Afzal 43, Maroof Merchant 21, Omer Farooq 36n.o)
Man of the Match: Omer Farooq