Fahad Nawaz stole the show with a fine century as Kricket Spero were crowned Shyam Bhatia Cricket for Care Inter-Academy champions.

Against Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Cricket Academy at Dubai Men’s College, Nawaz struck 101 from just 56 balls, as Spero scored 196-4 in their 25 overs. In reply, Zayed were restricted to 180-6, falling 17 runs short of their target as Spero got their hands on the trophy.

But it was far from easy for the champions. After winnings the toss, Spero got off to a slow start when their openers Varun Nayanar and Ronak Panoly were dismissed early on to leave them facing an uphill struggle.

But Nawaz and Tushar Tugnait took charge of the situation and changed the complexion of the match. The two wickets notwithstanding, Fahad got into top gear and belted the Zayed bowlers all over the ground.

Tugnait gave him good support and together they put on 142 runs for the third wicket. Nawaz then reached triple figures with two sixes and 12 boundaries, while Tugnait showed his potential with a superb 65 from 51 deliveries, including seven boundaries.

Set 197 to win, it was always going to be a challenging chase for the capital side.

But Jonathan Figy (64) and Fazal Shahid (71) gave them a perfect start with a 138-run stand for the opening wicket.

They were on course to reach their target but both fell in quick succession.

Their team-mates failed to build on that start as Mohammad Ajmal and Devnath Menon took two wickets each to seal Spero’s triumph.