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Heriot Watt to Face UOWD in Elite Cup Final

ABU DHABI - Heriot Watt University will take on University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) in the final of the Elite Cup of the Interface Gulf Cup cricket tournament, organised by Young Talents Cricket Academy under the auspices of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council, a press release said.

In the semifinals played at the floodlit Shaikh Zayed Stadium, Heriot Watt powered their way to an eight-wicket win over Emirates Aviation College (EAC) while UOWD successfully chased Middlesex University’s target of 171 runs. In the Heriot Watt-EAC match, EAC, batting first, made 155 for six in the allotted 30 overs. EAC suffered early setbacks as they lost two wickets for just eight runs before Rahul Chatwani hit a run-a-ball 52. Heriot Watt trio of Aqib Malik, Qasim Zubair and Owais Hameed shared the spoils by taking two wickets each.

In reply, a superb first wicket partnership of 120 runs between Aqib Malik and Rushil Vallabh helped Heriot Watt cruise to 156 in 22 overs for the loss of just two wickets. Aqib stroked his way to an unbeaten 66 runs off 62 balls, made with the help of six fours. Rushil hit eight boundaries in his 53 runs off 56 deliveries.

Later in the evening match, UWOD maintained their winning streak as they clinically beat Middlesex by six wickets. Middlesex, opting to bat first, rallied from a precarious 52 for five wickets in 10^th over to post a reasonable total of 171 runs for nine wickets in 30 overs. Saqid Ahmed did the hard work with a well compiled 40 off 61 balls while Nabeel Khan (25) and Talal Pervez (26 not out) gave the Middlesex some respectability. Yash Makar (3 for 33) and Vivek Reji Thomas (3 for 29) picked wickets at regular intervals for UOWD.

In reply, UOWD’s opening batsman Mudassir Mushtaq stood between Middlesex and victory as he scored an unbeaten 76 off 74 balls to take his team to the final. Muddassir hit five boundaries and two sixes as he and Pranav Arora (25) gave UOWD a sound 61-runs first wicket start.

Thereafter, UOWD maintained a steady flow of runs despite losing the occasional wickets of Manish Dhakan (1), Vivek (18) and Sufiyan Farooq (14), as they scored 175 for four wickets with 2.5 overs to spare.

BRIEF SCORES

ELITE CUP (semi-finals): Heriot Watt University bt EAC by 8 wkts. EAC 155 for 8 wkts in 30 overs (Rahul Chatwani 52, Zahid Bashir 17, Aamir Hanif 15; Aqib Malik 2/27, Qasim Zubair 2/35, Owais Hameed 2/21). Heriot Watt 156 for 2 wkts in 22 overs (Aqib Malik 66 not out, Rushil Vallabh 53, Zuhair Bukhari 24 not out; Rahul Chatwani 2/28).

UOWD bt Middlesex University by 6 wkts. Middlesex University 171 for 9 in 30 overs (Saqib Hameed 40, Nabeel Khan 25, Talal Pervez 26, Anil Adnani 18, Burhan Azeem 15; Yash Makar 3/33, Vivek Reji Thomas 3/29, Bilal Sohail 2/18). UOWD 175 for 4 wkts in 27.1 overs (Mudassir Mushtaq 76 not out, Pranav Arora 25, Yash Makar 25, Vivek Reji Thomas 18; Harsh Chaturvedi 2/22).