Maratha Arabians storm into Ajman T20 Cup final

Captain Jiju Janardhanan led from the front to help Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas reach the final of the Ajman T20 Cup on Monday.

The Arabians beat the Deccan Gladiators — MGM by eight wickets in the first semifinal.

Chasing 121, the Arabians reached home in 16.3 overs, riding on Janardhanan’s unbeaten 52 off 47 balls.

The skipper was well-supported by Mohammad Afzal who made an unbeaten 42 off 23 balls. The two batsmen put on 64 runs for the third wicket.

Earlier, Janardhanan chipped in with two wickets to help his team restrict the Gladiators to 120 all out in 19.1 overs.

Omer Farooq (3 for 32) was the pick of the bowlers for the Arabians as Hazrat Bilal also claimed two wickets.

Laxman Manjrekar top-scored with 27, but the Gladiators batsmen failed to convert their starts.

Speaking about his team’s entry into the final and his fine all-round show, Janardhanan, who won the man-of-the-match award, said: “We were delighted to have bowled them out for 120. Chasing such totals must be done carefully and so we decided not to aim for sixes and boundaries but keep maintaining the run flow. Experience has taught me how to chase small scores.”

Brief scores

Maratha Arabians – Brothers Gas beat Deccan Gladiators — MGM by eight wickets. Deccan Gladiators — MGM 120 all out in 19.1 overs (Laxman Manjrekar 27, Aayan Khan 24; Omer Farooq 3 for 32, Jiju Janardhanan 2 for 11, Hazrat Bilal 2 for 19) Maratha Arabians — Brothers Gas 122 for 2 in 16.3 overs (Jiju Janardhanan 52 not out, Mohammad Afzal 42 not out).