Bangla Tigers-Karwan’s left-arm pacer Sheraz Ahmed, fresh from playing in the Lanka Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League, produced a deadly spell of four wickets for just nine runs to defeat Northern Warriors-Defenders in the second match of the AVR PAY NEWS AJMAN T20 CUP powered By SKY EXCHANGE.NET at the Malek Stadium.
The first match of the second day saw Northern Warriors-Defenders winning the toss and elected to field. Bangla Tigers’ openers Sagar Kalyan and Fahad Nawaz gave them a good start by picking the gaps. Kalyan, batting without a helmet, played his shots freely and hit the first six of the match when he pulled pacer Wajid Khan over mid-wicket. The pair put on 52 runs in 5.1 overs with Kalyan scoring 37 of those runs.
Kalyan reached his half century in 29 balls and the partnership swelled to 73 in eight overs. At the score on 88 in the 11th over, Kalyan edged Asif Mumtaz to wicketkeeper Yasir Kaleem for 63. His knock off 37 balls had seven boundaries and two sixes. Asif Mumtaz struck again to clean bowl Fahad Nawaz for 25. His sedate knock off 31 balls had only one boundary.
Bangla Tigers reached the 100-run mark in the 13th over with Ali Khan joining Ameer Hamza. At the score on 120, skipper Yasir Maharvi forced Ameer Hamza to hit high to Rizwan Amanat at mid-off for 21. Ali Khan kept the score board moving with some well-placed shots but Fayaz Ahmed on 5 got run-out off a direct hit from Wajid Khan. At the score on 149, Wajid Khan had Ali Khan caught by Imran Od for 26.
Salman Babar then struck twice to have Furqan Khalil and Tariq Mehmood caught by Asif Mumtaz for two runs each. Bangla Tigers, who had looked set for a big score, got restricted to 158 for 7 in 20 overs.
Chasing the target, Northern Warriors-Defenders got rattled by left-arm pacer Sheraz Ahmed’s deadly bowling. Opener Wajid Khan played Sheraz Ahmed into the hands of Fayaz Ahmed at slips. Sheraz also clean bowled Yasir Kaleem with the very next ball. Two wickets down in the first over, opener Imran Od and Farhan Babar began the damage repair. Imran Od hit Umaid Khan for two consecutive boundaries in the second over.
Sheraz generated tremendous pace in the third over too and gave away just four runs. Imran Od played sensible cricket and punished Umaid Khan for two consecutive boundaries in the fourth over. Fahad Nawaz, who was introduced for the fifth over, struck with the first ball by having Imran Od caught by Ameer Hamza at mid-off for 20. Nawaz struck with the fourth ball too by trapping Abdur Rehman leg before for 1. Rizwan Amanat joined Farhan Babar and took the score to 55 when Amanat lofted high back to bowler Tariq Mehmood for 8. Salman Babar joined Farhan Babar who was stroking fluently. At the half way mark, Northern Warriors-Defenders were 70 for 5.
In the 13th over, Mohammad Farooq clean bowled Farhan Babar for 49. Farhan’s knock off 43 balls had three sixes and two boundaries. Mohammad Farooq also dismissed Salman Babar for 14 and Asif Mumtaz for 8 to put his team on the road to victory.
Sheraz, coming in for another spell, had Saqib Mahmood caught behind for 14 and also clean bowled Muhammad Sharam for a duck and pick his fourth wicket to restrict Northern Warriors-Defenders to 120 in 17.5 overs.
Speaking about his deadly spell, Sheraz Ahmed, after receiving the Man of the Match award said: “I carried the confidence from playing in the Lanka Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League into this match. During these leagues, I have been working very hard to improve my bowling. I have learned a lot more and become more confident and that helped me produce such a spell.”
Brief scores:
Bangla Tigers-Karawan bt Northern Warriors-Defenders by 38 runs. Bangla Tigers-Karwan 158 for 7 in 20 overs (Sagar Kalyan 63, Fahad Nawaz 26, Ameer Hamza 20, Ali Khan 26, Asif Mumtaz 2 for 24, Salman Babar 2 for 15) Northern Warriors-Defenders 120 in 17.5 overs (Imran Od 20, Farhan Babar 49, Sheraz Ahmed 4 for 9, Fahad Nawaz 2 for 10, Mohammad Farooq 3 for 24)
Man of the Match: Sheraz Ahmed