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ECB Blues to face Phoenix Medicines in DSC final

DUBAI — ECB Blues and Phoenix Medicines registered comfortable victories in their respective semifinal clashes to set up what promises to be a high-voltage final in the first Dubai Sports City Ramadan T-20 Tournament, organised by the Dubai Sports City, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, a press release said.

ECB Blues rode on a tidy all-round team performance to beat Interface Transworld by nine wickets while Phoenix Medicines, led by a solid half-century from Haroon Ahmed, got the better of Yogi Group, also by nine wickets.

With Fayyaz Ahmed grabbing three wickets for 23 runs, ECB did well to bowl out Interface Transworld for 100 in 18.1 overs and then raced to the modest victory in just 14.2 overs. Arshad Ali (41 off 43 balls) and Irfan Haider (41 off as many balls) led their batting charge with ease.

Interface Transworld batsmen never looked at ease against a charged-up ECB Blues attack and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Jagrit Anand (27 off 24 balls) was the only batsman who could offer any resistance. Besides Fayyaz, Ahmed Reza and Mohammed Tauqir also added to the woes of a struggling Interface Transworld batting line-up, taking two wickets each.

In the other semifinal, Phoenix Medicines dominated the proceedings almost at will. They had Yogi Group all out for 120 in 18.5 overs and then comfortably achieved the victory target with three overs to spare. Haroon Ahmed (74 not out off 62 balls with nine fours and two sixes) batted with authority in the company of Sarjeel Khan, who also remained not out on 32 off 33 balls to suffocate Yogi Group’s hopes of making a come-back into the match.

Earlier, Mohammed Rameez had scored 43 off 24 balls with four sixes to give some respectability to the Yogi Group score. Shakeel Raza and Imran Khan picked three wickets each while Shoaib Laghari and Zeeshan Khan claimed two wickets each to help their side seize the initiative.

Brief scores:

ECB Blues beat Interface Transworld by nine wickets: Interface Transworld 100 all out in 18.1 overs (Jagrit Anand 27, Fahad Tariq 19, Tushar Pant 16; Fayyaz Ahmed 3-23, Ahmed Reza 2-1, Mohammed Tauqir 2-27) ECB Blues 103 for one in 14.2 overs (Arshad Ali 41, Irfan Haider 41 not out). Man of the match: Arshad Ali of ECB Blues. Umpires: Tanvir Mehdi and Razzaq Shah.

Phoenix Medicines beat Yogi Group by nine wickets: Yogi Group 120 all out in 18.5 overs (Mohammed Rameez 43, Salman Faris 14; Shakeel Raza 3-25, Imran Khan 3-18, Shoaib Laghari 2-19, Zeeshan Khan 2-18) Phoenix Medicines 121 for one in 17 overs (Haroon Ahmed 74 not out, Sarjeel Khan 32 not out). Man of the match: Haroon Ahmed.