Tigers roar to victory

Put in to bat Alubond Tigers scored 260 for 8 from their 50 overs and later bundled Wings XI for a meagre 49 to win by a handsome 211-run margin.

Abdul Rauf starred for his side with an all-round performance. The opener was unlucky to miss his half century by three runs but he more than made up for it with the ball sending more than half the Wings XI batsmen back to the pavilion to finish with outstanding figures of 6 for 22 to rightfully walk away with the man of the match award.

Alubond Tigers lifted the Elite Cup with a thumping win in the final. — Supplied photo

Wings XI captain Shaiman Butt will probably rue his decision of winning the toss and sending his opponents in.

And though they tasted early success by getting rid of dangerman Shakoor with the scorers barely troubled from then on it was all downhill. First Rauf (47) and Safdar Niazi (28) strung a good 40-run partnership for the second wicket to lift Tigers out of the woods.

Then formerPakistaninternational Hassan Raza and Mohd Azam realized 82 runs for the fourth wicket.

Azam’s run-out for 38 didn’t really help Wings’ cause as Nasir Aziz and Raza continued to pile on the runs. Raza blasted two mighty sixes and six fours for his 98-ball 72, while Nasir was brutal slamming 43 from 30 balls which included five boundaries.

Peter Connell was the most successful bowler for Wings with four for 30 and though Naveed Saleem bagged two it came at a cost of 75 runs.

Wings got off to a similar start as Tigers with Ashfaq Ahmed running himself out. Thereafter the show belonged to Abdul Rauf as he ran amok clipping the wings of the opponent batsmen with ease.

Shareef Asadullah complemented him well with three wickets as only Bilal Irshad could get into double figures for Wings.

Brief scores

Alubond Tigers beat Wings XI by 211 runs. Alubond Tigers 260 for 8 in 50 overs (Hassan Raza 72, Abdul Rauf 47, Nasir Aziz 43, Mohd Azam 38, Safdar Niazi 28; Peter Connell 4/30, Naveed Saleem 2/75, Abdul Haq 1/17). Wings XI 49 all out in 16.4 overs (Bilal Irshad 20; Abdul Rauf 6/22, Shareef Asadullah 3/27). Man of the match: Abdul Rauf.