Arab Unity stay winners in Al Rawabi

BY : A STAFF REPORTER.
Arab Unity School continued their domination in school cricket by bagging the Al Rawabi U-18 Inter-School title for the second year running when they thumped Pakistan Islamia, Ajman by 86 runs in the tournament conducted by Dubai Cricket Council and sponsored by Al Rawabi dairy.

Maisam Raza once again dazzled for the victors with a doughty batting performance.

Arab Unity won the toss and batted first but suffered a setback losing Shehan in the very first over to Naveed. But Maisam Raza and Zain then put on 35 runs for the second wicket to steer them out of trouble.

Wickets then kept falling at regular intervals as Pakistan Islamia, Ajman bowlers Imran and Tauqeer bagged one wicket each, while smart and agile fielding saw them effect a couple of run-outs to have Arab Unity in a tight spot.

However, Maisam who had performed well in their semi-final against Our own (Dubai) played with plenty of determination and responsibility to top score with a knock of 46 runs in 67 balls in which he hit 5 boundaries until he was out LBW to Rifaqat..

Hamza Saif and Sufiyan Javed then consolidated the Arab Unity innings putting on 46 runs for the fifth wicket in quick time to steer them to 130 runs in 31 overs. Sufiyan was then out at this stage having contributed 25 runs in 40 balls while Hamza carried on with the tail to take them to 166 runs. He scored a quick 31 in 34 balls with 3 boundaries.

The tail wagged and Pak Ajman committed the cardinal sin of giving away 51 extras to help Arab Unity put on a competitive total of 192 runs before being bowled out in 38.5 overs.

In reply, Pakistan Islamia, Ajman lost two quick wickets to Sufiyan and Qasim and never really recovered from the double blow as wickets kept falling at regular intervals.

Sufiyan and Qasim bowled well in tandem and struck once again while Kashif picked up Ahmed Ayaz to break the back of Pakistan Ajman’s batting from which they never recovered.

Only a fighting knock of 32 runs from the cudgel of Mohammed Usman with 3 fours saved them from a total rout as eight batsmen failed to even get into double figures. Q

asim and Sufiyan bagged two wickets each for Arab Unity while Kashif and Man of the match Maisam Raza picked up one each to win the Al Rawabi under-18 title by a huge margin of 86 runs for the second year running.

Summarized Scores:

Arab Unity School beat Pakistan Islamia, Ajman by 86 runs.
Arab Unity 192 all out in 38.5 overs. (Maisam Raza 46, Hamza Saif 31, Sufiyan Javed 25, Sohail Ashraf 10, Talha Adil 2 for 24, Tauqeer Ahmed 2 for 29).
Pakistan Islamia (Ajman) 106 all out in 30.5 overs. (Rifaqat Ali 14, Ahmed Ayaz 12, Mohammed Usman 32, Qasim Zubair 2 for 23, Sufiyan Javed 2 for 28).
Man of the match: Maisam Raza of Arab Unity School.

Saturday, April 24, 2004.
source : © UAEcricket.com.