(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)
Published: Tue 18 Jan 2022, 4:38 PM
Opener Asif Khan's stubborn half-century ensured InterGlobe Marine their fifth successive victory in the 14th match of the CBFS powered by Fancode T20 tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Asif Khan's 64 squashed Karwan Strikers valiant effort to defend their total of 160 for 8 in 20 overs. After Khan fell, South Africa's Imran Tahir played a responsible unbeaten knock of 16 to ensure his team a three-wicket win.
Karwan Strikers won the toss and elected to bat. InterGlobe Marine continued with their tactic of not letting their opponent score steadily. After having Karwan Strikers' opener Waqas Ahmed caught by Asif Mumtaz off Touqeer Riyasat to the fourth ball of the first over, they maintained the pressure. Though Aryan Lakra and Ameer Hamza put on a 61-run partnership, they did not let the batsmen produce a big score. Once again it was South African leg spinner Imran Tahir who did the damage. In the seventh over, Tahir trapped Lakra leg before for 27 and had Hamza caught by Hazrat Luqman for 26.
As expected, this double strike resulted in the run flow getting affected. Fayyaz Ahmed got caught by Basil Hameed off Asif Mumtaz for 15 while wicketkeeper Furqan Khalil got caught by Asif Mumtaz off Harry Bharwal for 8. Karwan Strikers thus lost five wickets before reaching the 100-run mark.
Hazrat Luqman then picked his first wicket by having Ahmed Shafiq caught by Vishnu Sukumaran for 4. In the 19th over, Ali Khan who had hit a run-a- ball 37 too fell becoming Luqman's second victim after getting caught by Basil Hameed. His knock contained no boundaries but two sixes. A stubborn 25 runs partnership for the eighth wicket between Nadir Hussain and Muhammad Taimoor took the total to 160 for 8 in 20 overs.
Once InterGlobe Marine began their chase, although Karwan Strikers struck early, they failed to keep up the pressure. Akif Raja removed opener Rizwan CP for a duck having him caught by Asif Khan. One-drop Basil Hameed too got bowled by Muhammad Taimoor for 3. But InterGlobe Marine refused to get affected by the fall of wickets. Wicketkeeper Yasir Khaleem stayed on to hit 18 runs, and together with opener Asif Khan the pair put on 34 runs for the third wicket. Khaleem was then caught by Taimoor off Ahmed Shafiq.
Asif Khan continued to score freely and along with Vishnu Sukumaran took the score to 90 before Sukumaran fell for 20 caught by Shafiq off Aryan Lakra. Babar Ghazanfar too chipped in with 19 runs before being bowled by Shafiq. Asif Khan surrendered his wicket only after he took his team to 21 runs short of the target. He was caught by Shafiq off Nadir Hussain. Khan's fighting 64 off 56 balls contained five boundaries and a six. Though Lakra struck again to remove Touqeer Riyasat, the experienced Imran Tahir scored an unbeaten 16 and with Hazrat Luqman (4n.o) took their team to the target with two balls to spare.
Brief scores:
InterGlobe Marine beat Karwan Strikers by 3 wickets
Karwan Strikers 160 for 8 in 20 overs (Aryan Lakra 27, Ameer Hamza 26, Ali Khan 37, Hazrat Luqman 2 for 34, Imran Tahir 2 for 34) InterGlobe Marine 162 for 7 in 19.4 overs (Asif Khan 64, Vishnu Sukumaran 20, Ahmed Shafiq 2 for 23, Aryan Lakra 2 for 35).
Man of the Match: Asif Khan
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