This year’s tournament, sponsored by One Stop Tourism, will consist of 16 teams contesting in the 50-over day and night tournament, with the final match scheduled for May 24.

The draw for the tournament was held at an event at the Sharjah Stadium and attended by many dignitaries from the cricketing fraternity.

The draw was live streamed, and the organisers have also decided to live stream the semi-finals and finals of the tournament on ‘Livescores.ae’.

A total of 31 games will be held, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final.

The 16 teams have been divided into four groups with each team getting to play a minimum of three matches. The top two teams from each group qualify for the knockout stage. All matches will start at 5pm.

Waleed Bukhatir and Khalaf Bukhatir, son of UAE cricket patron Abdulrahman Bukhatir, attended the draw and Waleed, Vice Chairman of the Sharjah Cricket Club said: “First of all we would like to thank Mr Abdulrahman Bukhatir for the unrelenting support he has given in promoting cricket at the domestic level by providing the world class Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

“We are happy and excited for the tournament, which gives the players an opportunity to showcase their talent. We would want to thank all the sponsors for their overwhelming support.

The opening match today will be played between ECB Blues and Bukhatir XI.

The tournament carries a total prize money of Dh45,000. The winners will earn Dh25,000 while the runners-up will take home Dh15,000.