Tusker Club inflict first loss on defending champions Warriors Club

Holders Warriors Club suffered first defeat in the league stage when they were edged by Tusker Club in a dramatic finish in the popular Qatar Airways Cricket Tournament. Man of the match Akash bowled brilliantly for the winners, grabbing five for 20. Akash’s sharp bowling restricted Warriors Club at 211 in 48.1 overs. During the chase, Tusker Club offered late resistance and managed to reach 201 for nine before the bad light forced the play to be called off after 47 runs. Since Tusker’s run rate (4.27) was better than that of Warriors Club (4.22), the former were declared winners by 0.05 margin. This was the first defeat of Warriors Club in six matches in the eight-team round-robin league. Jishnu dismissed two Warriors Club players for 31 and Nawaf got one for 33. The fifth-wicket partnership of 49 runs was the feature of their innings and it was put up by skipper Assad Borham and Mujeeb. Borham hit five fours in 48, while Mujeeb hit 23 Imraz Rafi added 35 with four boundaries and Sadiq got 24 in 18 balls, hitting two sixes and as many fours. Tusker started to floursh a bit late. Saleh must deserve the credit for the turn-around as he hit 45 not out with four boundaries. He and Nawaf collected 33 runs for the eighth wicket. Then Saleh and Bipin Kumar were involved in a 48-run stand, which helped them improve the scoring average. Waleed (39 with one six and one four) and Rifayi (26 with five fours) were notable scorers among the top-order players. Nawaf made 23 and Bipin Kumar posted 24 valuable runs. Mujeeb grabbed four for 55, while Muhammad Murad Khan and Iqbal Hussain Chaudhry shared four wickets. Muhammad Mirza’s five for 38 set up an easy five-wicket victory for Asian Club against Royal Stars, who were shot out for 179. Asian Club took 37 overs to overhaul the target. Zubair Ali was the top scorer with 42, which had five fours. He and Omran Naziri (28 off 60 balls) mustered 73 runs for the opening wicket. Rest was a cakewalk for them. Jassim Khan (38 with two sixes) and Muhammad Tanveer (37 with one six and one four) were other main contributors. In the third and last match, Firox Club were boosted by Hussain’s all-round performance and they went on to beat Bangla Seniors by five wickets quite easily. Hussain picked two for 32 and followed it up with an attractive 71 off 60 balls. He smashed two sixes and seven fours to enable his team to canter home. BRIEF SCORES Tusker Club 201 for 9 in 47 overs (Saleh 45 not out, Waleed 39, Rifayi 26; Mohamed Murad Khan 2/33, Mujeeb 4/55, Iqbal Hussain Chaudhry 2/33)bt Warriors Club 211 all out in 48.1 overs (Assad Borham 48, Imraz Rafi 35; Akash 5/20, Jishnu 2/31) on better averageAsian Club beat Royal Stars by 5 wicketsAsian Club 183 for 5 in 37 overs (Zubair Ali 42, Naziri 28, Mohamed Tanveer 37, Jassim Khan 38; Rabi 4/41) bt Royal Stars 179 all out in 48 overs (Irshad 27, Sarmad 52, Shumon 26; Mughees Bajwa 2/38, Mohamed Mirza 5/38, Omran Hussain 2/37) by five wicketsFirox Club beat Bangladesh Seniors by 5 wicketsFirox Club 261 for 5 in 38.2 overs (Hussain 71, Saqlain 65; Jiko 2/55; Hussain 2/32, Akash 2/40, Talal 2/44) bt Bangladesh Seniors 257 for 8 (Roman 66, Titu 57 not out; Talal 2/44) by five wickets.