U A E C R I C K E T . C O M

Dubai Cricket Council XI scampered past the Malaysian National side with the last pair battling it out to snatch what seemed an impossible victory from the jaws of defeat.

All-rounder Sajjad Butt coming in at number ten led the fightback with an unbeaten knock of 25 runs in the company of skipper Mohamed Lokhandwala who had to draw on all his experience to pull the home side out of the woods.

Earlier in the morning DCC skipper Mohamed Lokhandwala won the toss and put the Malaysian side in and this move paid quick dividends as DCC XI seamers led by Piyush Maloo and UAE captain Saeed Al Saffar bowled well to exploit the moisture in the new wicket. Saeed got rid of opener S. Ahmed (2) who was well taken by wicket keeper Abbas Ali Khan while Piyush Maloo sent back the next two batsmen, M. Williams (2) and Suresh N. to have the Malaysians reeling at 16 for 3 wickets. Sajjad Butt coming in place of Piyush dispatched Rakesh with a beautiful delivery to have him caught in gully by Mohammed Tauqeer. Ramdas then played some attacking cricket in the company of Muriandy (14) to take the Malaysians to 77 when Tauqeer had him caught and bowled. Ramdas carried on playing flamboyant cricket and hit Tauqeer for a lovely straight six and was the top scorer of the day with 37 runs in which he hit two boundaries and a six. Leg spinner Mohammed Hyder however had caught in the slips of a superb delivery which spun and took the outside edge for Jaideep Mathur to take a well judged catch at first slip.

Skipper Lokhandwala meanwhile tied down the Malaysian batsmen with nagging accuracy from the other end to bowl a fine spell of eight overs in which he conceeded only 15 runs. Rajinder Parsad then had the last say as he had Muriandy caught but Jairaj Thakur in slips and also sent back Ikhwan to bag 2 wickets for 13 runs towards the end. Krishna Murthy with a fighting unbeaten knock of (28) saved the visitors some blushes as he in partnership with Shanker (20) got the Malaysians past not only the hundred mark but to a respectable 137 in 45 overs.

DCC XI also started disastrously as Thakur holed out to deep fine leg off a short one from Muriandy in in the very first over. Saeed Al Saffar and Atif Iftikhar then took the score to (25) at which stage Atif was out flashing outside the off stump to medium pacer Suresh who bowled a very good line and length and had the home side in deep trouble sending back Jaideep Mathur (10) and Saeed Al Saffar (21) in quick succession.

Saeed played a cameo of a knock as he took the attack to the Malaysian bowlers and hit two lovely boundaries but fell trying to hook a short pitched delivery from Suresh on his off stump.

Wickets then fell regularly as Rohan sent back Rajinder Parsad and Mohammed Tauqeer while Suresh got rid of Abbas Ali Khan (17) who had started to look dangerous and played some attractive drives on both sides of the wicket. At 104 for 9 the Malaysians were marching towards victory, but then skipper Mohamed Lokhandwala joined Sajjad Butt and together they played sensibly picking up the singles and capitalising on the loose deliveries.

Sajjad scored a patient but priceless knock of (25) runs in 51 balls while Lokhandwala was a mixture of caution and aggression as he belted two boundaries and a straight six of spinner Chong when the scores were tied to steer DCC XI to an exciting win with more than five overs to spare. Suresh was the most successful bowler for the Malaysians with 4 wickets for 23 runs while Rohan bagged 2 for 34 runs.

Click here for brief Scorecard.

Friday, October 06, 2000.
source : UAEcricket.com.

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