DUBAI -- Yogi Group produced a fine all-round team performance to beat Sharjah Club by two wickets in the first Dubai Sports City Ramadan T-20 Tournament, organized by the Dubai Sports City under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday night.With this victory, Yogi Group have made it to the semifinals where they will take on Phoenix Medicines on Wednesday. The other semifinal match will see ECB Blues clash against Interface Transworld.
Yogi Group, led by a fine spell of bowling by Shiva Pagrani, who snared three wickets for 26 runs, did well to bowl out Sharjah Club for a modest 122 in 17.2 overs and then achieved the victory target with five balls to spare. Zulfiqar Ali made a valuable 25 off 37 balls after Yogi Group were reduced to six for 67 to set up a narrow victory. Opener Prabodhan Kanse (16 off as many balls) and Mohammed Rameez, who remained not out on 13 off six balls were the other main scorers. Usman took three wickets for 28 runs while Moiz Shahid grabbed two for 29 runs, but Yogi Group batsmen stuck to their task effectively to clinch the victory.
Earlier, Zaheer Khan (28 off 19 balls), Abdullah Azhar (37 off 28 balls) and Usman (28 off 28 balls) had batted well to consolidate the Sharjah Club innings. Besides Pagrani, Mohammed Afzal, Salman Faris and Mohammed Rameez also bowled well, taking two wickets each. The day’s other match between Seven Seas Strikers and Pack 2 Go was reduced to an inconsequential affair after the top teams qualified for the semifinals. Seven Seas Strikers won the match by four wickets to salvage some pride. Pack 2 Go, batting first, made 142 for seven with Prashanth Braggs (39) and Amjad Javed (38) being the main scorers. Freddy Sidhwa and Mohammed Kashif took two wickets each. Seven Seas Strikers, in reply, built their innings around opener Asif Iqbal who made a fluent 63 off 44 balls with five fours and three sixes to help his team seal the victory with balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Yogi Group beat Sharjah Club by two wickets
Sharjah Club 122 all out in 17.2 overs
(Zaheer Khan 28, Abdullah Azhar 37, Usman 29; Shiva Pagrani 3-26, Mohammed Rameez 2-16, Salman Faris 2-29)
Yogi Group 124 for eight in 19.1 overs
(Zulfiqar Ali 25, Prabodhan Kanse 16, Mohammed Rameez 13 not out; Usman 3-28, Moiz Shahid 2-29).
Man of the match: Shiva Pagrani of Yogi Group.
Seven Seas Strikers beat Pack 2 Go by four wickets:
Pack 2 Go 142 for seven
(Amjad Javed 38, Prashanth Braggs 39, Mashood CTK 18; Freddy Sidhwa 2-27, Mohammed Kashhif 2-16)
Seven Seas Strikers 144 for six in 19.1 overs
(Asif Iqbal 63, Mohammed Boota 19, Qadir Nawaz 17; Amjad Javed 2-15, Mashood CTK 2-24).
Man of the match: Asif Iqbal of Seven Seas Strikers.