Saqib Ali struck a match-winning 65 to guide New Medical Centre (NMC) to a comfortable 69-run win over Team Interface in the 4th Interface Transworld Ramadan T20 Cricket Tournament at Dubai Men’s College.
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Captain Anil Adnani won the toss for Team Interface and chose to bowl in this Group A match. The decision seemed to pay off at first when Hafiz Kaleem eliminated both openers.
However, once Saqib Ali came to the crease, the plan backfired. The No. 3 batsman produced his elegant touch to caress the ball to all around the ground with ease, despite wickets tumbling at the other end.
Mohammed Usman ran himself out just when he looked like giving Saqib good support. Then Salman Baber struck two quick wickets to break the backbone of the NMC team.
But Saqib soldiered on slamming a six and seven fours for a total of 65 from 49 balls.
Asif Gafoor (19 off 20 balls) and Nisar Ahmad’s unbeaten 19 from 11 balls lifted NMC’s total to 145.
Interface got off to a bad start with Hafeez Kalim being spared in the pavilion instead of providing the ammunition for a high score.
They never recovered from that and one by one the batsmen returned for early showers without putting up a fight.
Tailender Nashwan Nasir was the top scorer with 19 as Asif Gafoor (3/10), Nisar Ali Butt (3/18) and Raza Akif (2/19) abolished the other batsmen to hand NMC a big win.
In a Group B tie, man of the match Umar Farooq (4 for 27), Mohammad Ayaz (3 for 12) and Zaheer Maqsood (2 for 22) helped United Bank Limited restrict Lanka Lions to 114.
UBL then chased down the target in 12.2 overs for the loss of only two wickets with Rameez Shehzad remaining unbeaten on 45 from 26 balls. His knock contained three sixes and two fours. The other batsman to remain not out was Amjad Ali, hitting two maximums and two fours from 29 balls to help him score 40.
Earlier, Syed Maqsood gave them a solid start scoring 21.
Brief scores:
New Medical Centre beat Team Interface by 69 runs
NMC 145 for 8 in 20 overs (Saqib Ali 65, Nisar Ahmad 19 n.o., Asif Gafoor 19; Rizwan Rauf 2/20, Salman Baber 2/21) Team Interface 76 all out in 15.2 overs (Nashwan Nasir 19; Asif Gafoor 3/10, Nisar Ahmed 3/18, Raza Akif 2/19).
Man of the match: Saqib Ali of NMC.
United Bank Limited beat Lanka Lions by eight wickets
Lanka Lions 114 all out in 19.5 overs (Kushan Werakoody 18, Rushan Soori 18, Hesnan de Silva 17; Umar Farooq 4/27, Mohammad Ayaz 3/12, Zaheer Maqsood 2/22) UBL 117 for 2 in 12.2 overs (Rameez Shahzad 45 n.o., Amjad Ali 40 n.o., Syed Maqsood 21).
Man of the match: Umar Farooq of UBL.
The month-long tournament is being organised by Dubai Cricket Council.