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Oud Mehta enter semis with seven-wicket win

Dulsco no match for the OMCC; Sangeeth shines

Members of the Oud Mehta CC. — Supplied photo

Oud Mehta CC defeated hosts Dulsco by seven wickets to book their berth in the semi-finals of the 13^th Dulsco Ramadan Cricket Tournament at the Zabeel Park Cricket Ground in Dubai on Sunday night, a Press release said.

After Dulsco had posted a decent 154 for 6 in 20 overs, Oud Mehta scored a comfortable victory losing three wickets with 10 balls to spare. Dulsco have to blame themselves for the defeat as they dropped a whopping 11 catches and Oud Mehta batsmen made the most of those chances to script a fine victory.

The Dulsco tournament reached its halfway mark with the semi-final line-up drawn. In the first semi-final, Aster DM Healthcare will lock horns with Future King Heroes while Oud Mehta will fight it out with Multiplex International in the second semi-final.

Dulsco team opted to bat first and found the going tough right from the start. Their innings looked in disarray as Junaid sent both Dulsco openers back to the pavilion to make it 22-2. Waheed Sajjad (2) and Shamsuddin (6) disappointed falling to Junaid before Kashif scalped Shoaib Afridi (6) to put Dulsco in dire straits at 31 for 3 in the third over. It was always going to be tough for the Dulsco team from there on and the runs were coming at a slow pace.

Zeeshan Siddique provided some impetus to the innings as he hit a 34-ball 54 with four fours and three sixes. But once he was dismissed, falling to Sangeeth in the sixth over making it 86 for 4, Dulsco were in real danger of not being able to put enough runs on the board. At this stage, they found their savior in Omar Javed, who blasted 38 off 25 deliveries aided by one four and two sixes to boost the Dulsco total. Babar Ganzafar contributed 18 as they finished on 154 for 6 in 20 overs. Sangeeth Joseph also took two wickets.

Dulsco started on a bright note while defending their total as they dismissed Ramakrishna (4) with Shoaib Jaffer being the successful bowler. However, any hopes of making a match out it were quickly put to rest as poor fielding let them down after the Oud Mehta reply was dominated by one man. After his success with the ball, Sangeeth brutally took apart the Dulsco attack as he plundered runs at will.

He was first involved in a 49-run partnership with Awaiz Iqbal, who cracked a 23-ball 31, hitting two fours and four sixes, and then powered the team past the victory target in the company of Junaid (24). Sangeeth remained not out on a scintillating 86, blasting seven boundaries and five sixes off 40 deliveries as Oud Mehta achieved the target in 18.2 overs for the loss of three wickets. Sangeeth won the adjudged Multiplex Man of the Match award.