Shivram, Naveed shine in Al Jabeen’s victory

Shivram’s 53 came off 67 balls and consisted of four towering sixes and a four to guide Al Jabeen to 177 for 9 in 30 overs.

Published: Tue 22 Jul 2014, 10:29 AM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 9:15 PM

Al Jabeen won by eight runs. — Supplied photo

A blistering half century from Shivram Sharma and some outstanding bowling from man of the match Naveed Shahzad enabled Al Jabeen Heroes down Alubond Tigers by eight runs in the second Interface Transworld Ramadan Cup 30-over cricket tournament at the Fairground Oval of the Dubai Men’s College. The tournament is organised by the Dubai Cricket Council (DCC).

Shivram’s 53 came off 67 balls and consisted of four towering sixes and a four to guide Al Jabeen to 177 for 9 in 30 overs.

Alubond stuttered in their reply but Sameen Kushakumara (42), Sultan Ahmed (34), Umari Ali (32) and Nasir Aziz (27) kept their hopes alive until Naveed Shahzad ripped through with four wickets for a miserly 26 runs to take Al Jabeen to victory by eight runs.

Alubond won the toss but elected to bowl and after watching Yaqoob Masih and Abdul Rehman give Al Jabeen a good start of 44 runs for the opening wicket they must have rued their decision.

But two wickets, that of Rehman and one-down batsman Amit Verma, fell in a span of 16 runs which probably gave Alubond some respite. However, Yaqoob continued to throw his bat around and in the company of Shivram put on 44 runs for the third wicket. Yaqoob slammed four fours and two sixes in his 16-ball 33.

Meanwhile, Shivram went on to post his half century, while Parveen Yadav chipped in with 25, but three run-outs scuppered Al Jabeen’s hopes of posting a huge total and in the end they had to settle for 177.

It was not a stiff target to chase but Alubond’s openers — Irfan Ahmad (0) and Hassan Raza (3) were sent packing early. It was Sameen Kushakumara who propped up the Alubond innings and with good support from Nasir Aziz, Umair Ali and Sultan Ahmed almost won the match for their side.