Bhandari’s century keeps Divine on top

The 25-over-a-side tournament is conducted by the Sindhi Cricket Club (SCC) under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council (DCC).

Batting first on winning the toss NHormus galloped to a whopping 216 for 5 thanks to Bhandari’s 52-ball 120. They later restricted Neel Mighty Sindhis to 197 to register their third successive victory, while for Neel it was their third straight defeat.

Bhandari, who has been a prolific scorer for his team, stamped his class on the match from the word go. Cutting and pulling to all parts of the ground, this diminutive lad towered over the Mighty bowlers with five sixes and 14 hits to the ropes.

Bhandari had good partnerships with Dhiraj (14) and Jay Joshi (36) as NHormus crossed the 100-run mark in less than 10 overs.

Joshi, another key player for NHormus, played second fiddle to Bhandari with a well-made 36 from 30 balls which included three boundaries and a six. But it was Bhandari all the way dominating the bowlers with ease as fours just flowed from his blade. Sanjay Chawla played a cameo towards the end with a brisk 18.

Bhandari had not finished yet. He returned with the ball to trap Nithin Sharma first ball.

Just when Neel looked all at sea Ronit Phulwani and Gaurav Rajkumar guided their team to safer waters with a 47-run partnership.

Ronit tried taking the match to the rival camp with a powerful 62 from 41 balls (6x4, 2x6) but lacked solid support from the others.

Only Gaurav and Neeraj Sajnani with 31 each gave him some assistance but the run rate was too high for them to make a match of it.

United Sindhis take on Petrochem Sindhi Kings in the next match to be played on Sunday.

Brief scores

NHormus Divine Sindhis beat Neel Mighty Sindhis by 20 runs.

NHormus Divine Sindhis 216 for 6 in 25 overs (Ashish Bhandari 120 n.o., Jay Joshi 36 retd, Sanjay Chawla 18, Dhiraj Munjwani 14; Deepak Odhrani 2/27, Vishal Dayal 1/30, Rakesh 1/55) beat Neel Mighty Sindhis 197 all out in 25 overs (Ronit Phulwani 62 n.o., Gaurav Rajkumar 31, Neeraj Sajnani 31, Vishal Dayal 15, Pavan Lalwani 11, Satyen 10; Bhandari 3/41, Jay Joshi 2/21, Nitin 1/24, Deepesh 1/10).

Man of the match: Ashish Bhandari of NHormus.