Emirates XI blown over by Breese onslaught

DUBAI - Fly Emirates XI were dethroned as the Emirates Airline Twenty20 champions on Thursday evening as Durham squeezed home to a 12-run victory at 7he Sevens ground.

Published: Fri 1 Apr 2011, 1:05 AM

Last updated: Tue 20 Jun 2023, 3:56 PM

Having been set a daunting target of 150 to chase down, Emirates’ talented team of employees ran the English county close before ultimately coming up short in the final reckoning on 138-7.

UAE international all-rounder Amjad Javed, the Fly Emirates XI captain, spearheaded his side’s efforts with a belligerent innings, smashing 39 off 31 balls – including two fours and three sixes – before finding Scott Borthwick at long on from a Liam Plunkett (2-25) delivery.

Opener Arshad Ali (33) and Nigel Fernandes (18) also acquitted themselves well against an international-class bowling attack, while Durham skipper Dale Benkenstein (2-4), Borthwick (1-18), Gareth Breese (1-13) and Chris Rushworth (1-38) did the damage with the ball. Earlier, Durham’s first use of the track looked to be somewhat stagnating with their score on just 85-6 after 13 overs, but some late impetus from Breese (48 runs off 29 balls, including seven fours and one six) saw them up to a competitive total (150-8).

“The guys did well,” Benkenstein said. “We batted well in parts, with a few good innings. But, we didn’t quite put the whole thing together, which I suppose is to be expected at this stage of the season. Gareth Breese basically got us to 150 with an amazing innings.

“We were really good in the field as well, even though we were a little bit rusty with the bowling. There was some good stuff to take from that game.”

Benkenstein’s counterpart Javed felt his men had performed admirably in the circumstances, having very nearly beaten a club that has been crowned county champions in two of the last three years.

“They’re a professional side, but we played very good cricket,” he explained. “To restrict them to 150 was good because that total is achievable on this type of wicket.

“The boys are very geared up and they know that they can easily beat any county team in Twenty20 cricket, like they did in last year’s tournament.”

The Teams:

Durham: Dale Benkenstein, Michael Richardson, Mark Stoneman, Kyle Coetzer, William Smith, Gordon Muchall, Gareth Breese, Liam Plunkett, Scott Borthwick, Christopher Rushworth, Stephen Harmison.

Fly Emirates XI: Amjed Javed, Shoeb Muljiani, Arshad Ali, Javid Ismail, Muhammad Iqbal, Nigel Fernandes, Rahen Adil, Lalith Dahayanake, Amar Sharma, Rizwan Ahmed, Bruce Fernando. 12th man: Aziz Abbas.