Final leg of ERCA T20: Fours, sixes, all around, epic cricket

The ERCA T20 cricket tournament has advanced into its final stages and SAB Warriors C.C, Eastern Arabia C.C, Hyderabad Green C.C, Blue Star C.C & Abbottabad Tiger C.C & Kashmir United C.C all emerged as winners in their pool matches of last leg.

Kashmir United came out victorious against their match with Al Tuwairqi C.C. Kashmir United having won the toss, managed to put up a mammoth total of 207/3 in their allotted 20 overs. Farrukh Hanif scored 91 runs facing 60 deliveries which was supported by Waseemullah who score 41 on just 34 balls. In reply, Al Tuwairqi C.C managed to put up a good fight but at the end was contained at 181/6 in 20 overs. Malik Asghar and Naveed Abrar scored 58(45) and 50(43) respectively. Muhammad Taufiq and Abdulwaheed were the pick of the bowlers bagging 2 wickets each. Farrukh Hanif was Man of the match for his wonderful knock of 91 runs. In another nail biter, Abbotabad Tigers C.C emerged victorious after defeating Baker Hughes GE C.C. 

The match went till the last ball of the innings and kept the spectators rite on the edges of their seats. Baker Hughes GE C.C batted first and scored 178/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Mohsin Butt scored 44(30) runs along with Waqas Akram who scored a quick 41(29) runs. Sajid Mehmood and Mohammad Ibrahim grabbed a wicket each for Abbottabad Tigers. In reply Abbottabad Tigers C.C start was shaky as they lost their opener and Captain Mumtaz Ahmed, early in the innings who scored only 24(16) runs. Once again Mohamamd Ibrahim, who was the man of the match in the last game against Pasha Eleven, took the responsibility and played an unbeaten innings of 36*(25) runs and made sure that their team emerge victorious by chasing down the total in 19.4 overs. Umar Farooq & Salman Habib grabbed 2 wickets each for Baker Hughes GE C.C. Mohamad Ibrahim was awarded Man of the match.

SAB Warriors C.C defeated Deccen Blues C.C with a huge margin of 63 runs and qualified for Semi Finals as the second team from group B. SAB Warriors batting first, posted a huge total of 215/7 in their 20 overs. Balu Biju scored 61(29) runs in a flash, which was well supported by Mohammad Muthalif who scored a brisk 60(24) runs. Down the innings, it was supported equally by Feroz Khan who also scored 55(45) runs. Naveed, Ibrahim Syed and Zafar Mohiuddin were the pick of the bowlers from Deccan Blues as they managed to grab 2 wickets each for their team. In response, Deccan Blues C.C could only manage to score 152/7 in their alloted 20 overs. Azeem Ahmed scored 60(39). Mohammad Muthalif was named match of the match for his marvellous innings of 60 runs in just 24 deliveries. 

In another game Blue Star C.C continued their unbeaten streak by defeating Britam Arabia Mavericks C.C. Britam Arabia after winning the toss elected to bat first, but were able to put up only 103/7 runs on the board. Umair Ali was the top scorer with 18(16) runs. In reply Blue Star chased down the total in in just 10.4 overs with six wickets in hand. Javed Akhtar scored a brilliant 50(30) runs. Tahir Mustafa was the pick of bowlers from Mavericks C.C who grabbed 2 wickets. Javed Akhtar of Blue Star C.C was awarded man of the matc for his yet another brilliant batting performance. 

On the final Friday it was a fight for the spot in Semi’s, for the top four teams of both the groups. Eastern Arabia carried their unbeaten streak and defeated Pasha Eleven in their final group match by a convincing 81 runs and qualified as the top team for Semis from Group A. Mohammad Harish was awarded man of the match for his excellent bowling. He bagged 5 wickets for just 13 runs. Kites C.C also defeated Abbottabad Tigers C.C by 4 wickets in a low scoring game, where they chased 112 runs target set by Abbottabad Tigers C.C in 16.4 overs and qualified for the Semis as second team from group A. Tauseef Abdul was awarded Man of the match for his brilliant unbeaten knock of 54*(41) runs. Blue Star C.C maintained their unbeated streak and defeated Deccan Blues C.C by 2 wickets to qualify for the Semi’s as top team from group B. They chased down the target of 130 runs set by Deccan Blues in 15.4 overs. Javed Akhtar once again showed his class with the bat and scored 33(27) runs. 

However the star performer was Altaf Sheikh who bagged 4 wickets for Blue Star C.C. So on 23rd Nov 2018, we will be having our first ever Al Tuwairqi T20 Cricket Tournament Semi Finals, where Eastern Arabia C.C will be taking on  SAB Warriors C.C and Blue Star C.C will be taking taking on Kites C.C. From here on, every thing will be supervised officially by the ERCA executive committee. ERCA President Mr. Majaz Qadri and Vice President Mr. Imran Rasheed, along with other committee members will be supervising both the matches, to ensure that optimum level of cricket is provided to all the teams. Till now this is Danish Irfan signing off, but I will be back with some more news for our keen readers for the Semi Finals by next week. Wishing best of luck to all the Semifinalist!

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