The Danube Lions side, so impressive in indoor cricket at the ICC Academy, carried over that dominance to the state-of-the-art facility’s outdoor ovals by sealing the Arabian Cricket League title thanks to an emphatic 122-run win against the Alubond Tigers.

Under lights at Dubai Sports City, the Lions scored an imposing 225 for four batting first in the Grand Final before dismissing the Tigers for 103.

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It meant not only victory and the trophy produced by Crystal Gallery, but also a AED20,000 cheque, and the cash prizes for Danube’s players did not stop there.

Asif Ali picked up AED1000 for a player of the match performance as he scored an unbeaten 93 from just 40 deliveries to catapult his side to what turned out to be its impregnable Grand Final total, while his team-mate Asif Iqbal also found himself AED1000 richer when he was named player of the tournament.

The match was the last of 15 in a tournament involving eight Dubai Cricket Council ‘A’ Division teams, and was a repeat of an earlier encounter in the pool stage of the event.

Shahzad Manna, with 64 from 47 balls, got the ball rolling for Danube and there was a late flourish from Fakhar Zaman, whose unbeaten 25 occupied just 13 deliveries, but the headlines were truly grabbed by Asif Ali.

His 93 not out included six sixes and seven fours and his brutal batting helped to ensure 134 runs came from the final 10 overs of the Danube innings, with 76 of them in the last five overs.

The target of 226 was a daunting one for the Tigers and the side was never in contention as Danube finished the job with aplomb.

Amir Hayat started the rot with 2-21 before Emmad Ali, who finished with 4-14, administered the final rites.

The Alubond Tigers side was bowled out in 15.4 overs and that marked the start of the Danube Lions celebrations.