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Ishan Ali hits fine century

ABU DHABI — Opener Ishan Ali scored an unbeaten century as NMC ran roughshod against Hadiya XI in the Carpetland Ramadan Cup Twenty20 tournament at the Shaikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium on Sunday night.

NMC scored a comprehensive 171-run win over Hadiya XI.

In the other game of the night, Eurocon Alubond cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Seven Seas Strikers.

Put into bat, NMC conjured 265 for the loss of one wicket in their 20 overs. Openers Indika Sampath and Ishan Ali laid a solid foundation for NMC. Indika Sampath fell one short of half-century with his 49 coming from 23 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes. The other opener Ishan Ali cracked an unbeaten 107 from 58 balls with 19 boundaries, while one-down batsman and UAE international Saqib Ali made an unbeaten 88 from 40 balls. His knock was studded with seven boundaries and six sixes. Later, Saqib Ali snapped up four wickets for 23 as Hadiya XI folded up for 94 in 14.5 overs, despite a fighting half-century by Mujib Bhai. Mujib Bhai’s 50 came from 35 balls, which contained five boundaries and three sixes. Manjula Guruge and Shadeep Silva took two wickets each.

In the other game, put into bat, Seven Seas Strikers were all out for 148 in 19.5 overs. Opener Mohd. Asif scored 57 from 49 balls with eight boundaries and one six, while lower down Shafqat Ali clubed an unbeaten 52 from 25 balls, which contained six sixes and one boundary. Nazir Aziz took three for 37, while Sharif Asad and Mohd. Azam took two wickets each.

In reply, Eurocon Alubond cruised through in 17.4 overs, losing just one wicket. One-down batsman Hanif Malik top scored with an unbeaten 53 from 37 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. Opener Haris made an unbeaten 49 from 45 balls with seven boundaries. The other opener Sheraz Butt scored 24 from 26 balls with four boundaries and a six. Twenty teams from all over the UAE are participating in the tournament. They have been divided into four groups with five teams in each group.

james@khaleejtimes.com