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Yogi Group win title

SHARJAH — Ambey Parwatkar and Swapnil Patil produced blistering innings as Yogi Group defeated Emirates Islamic Bank by five wickets to win the AJ Invitation League tournament, organised by the Sharjah Cricket Council, at Al Dhaid Cricket Village, a press release said. The final, as expected, turned out to be a high-scoring affair with a total of 427 runs being scored in 38.5 overs before Yogi Group were crowned champions.

Emirates Islamic Bank, batting first, rattled up a challenging 213 in the allotted 20 overs, but Yogi Group remained unruffled and overhauled what looked a healthy score in 18.5 overs. It was Ambey Parwatkar and Swapnil Patil, who combined effectively to swing the match in Yogi Group’s favour.

Ambey smashed 51 off just 34 balls with one four and three sixes while Swapnil, the former Ranji Trophy player from Mumbai, weighed in with an equally aggressive 49 off 19 balls which included three fours and five sixes.

Inspired by the superb batting performance by Avadoor (28 not out off 16 balls), Prabodhan Kanse (22 off 11 balls) and Ajmal (20 off 16 balls) also joined the party to suffocate Emirates Islamic Bank’s hopes of making a comeback into the match.

Earlier, Emirates Islamic Bank had built their innings around Ali Asad and Adnan, who both batted with conviction against the Yogi Group attack. Ali slammed 73 off 37 balls with two fours and eight sixes while Adnan remained unbeaten on 52 off just 19 balls with two fours and six sixes. Faizan Asif (36 off 11 balls with five fours and two sixes) and Asim Kaleem (24 of 34 balls) further consolidated the gains with some fluent batting, but their efforts in the end weren’t good enough to see off a determined challenge from Yogi Group.

It was, however, the Yogi Group batting that rose to the occasion when it mattered the most.