Tahir, Amir spells, three centuries provide electrifying start to CBFS tournament

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Imran Tahir.
Imran Tahir.

Sharjah - The tournament took off with MGM Cricket Club recording an eight-wicket win over Savannah Lions Cricket Club

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Published: Wed 12 Jan 2022, 4:16 PM

Last updated: Wed 12 Jan 2022, 4:17 PM

A display of splendid bowling spells from South Africa’s legendary leg spinner Imran Tahir and Pakistan’s left-arm pacer Muhammad Amir and three centuries provided a splendid start to CBFS powered by Fancode T20 tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Playing for InterGlobe Marine, the ever-green Imran Tahir bagged five wickets for 21 well backed by Muhammad Amir (3 for 21). The century makers were InterGlobe Marines’ Asif Khan and Brother Gas’ Hamdan Tahir and Tanveer Javed.


The tournament took off with MGM Cricket Club recording an eight-wicket win over Savannah Lions Cricket Club and InterGlobe Marine scoring an emphatic 146-runs victory over The Vision Shipping.  The first match on the second day saw Brothers Gas defeat Savannah Lions Cricket Club by 93 runs. These matches also witnessed some fine bowling from Brother Gas’s Muhammad Azhar (4 for 21) and MGM Cricket Club’s Danish Qureshi (3 for 12).

Qureshi bowls MGM Cricket Club to easy win


Electing to field first, MGM Cricket Club picked an early wicket. Their right-arm medium pacer Danish Qureshi clean bowled Savannah Lions Cricket Club opener Mitchell for 5.  Opener Ceasario and Bradley Staddon took the score to 33 in eight overs when Ceasario got run out for 18. Hashit Khushik had skipper Juandre caught behind by wicketkeeper Rahul Chopra for 2. 

Staddon and Roshan Khan put on a 50-runs partnership for the fourth wicket. Danish Qureshi struck again to pick his second wicket and break the partnership by having Roshan Khan caught behind for 31. His knock off 28 balls had two boundaries and a six. One run later, Qureshi also trapped Staddon leg before for 23. His innings off 42 balls had one boundary and a six. When Lions Club were four short of the 100-run mark, Muhammad Hassan, who was introduced as the seventh bowler, struck in his very first over to clean bowl Robin Gow Kleinshmidt. He also clean bowled Rodwell for a duck. Earl Kivedo remained unbeaten on 10 and ensured Lions a total of 101 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs.

Chasing a run rate of 5.05, Lions’ pacer Staddon clean bowled opener Malik Ghulam Mustafa for a duck. MGM Club skipper and opener Ansar Khan went for his shots and hit a quick 25 off just 11 balls with three boundaries and two sixes. Robin Gow Kleinshmidt ended Khan’s knock at the score on 33.  One-drop batsman Muhammad Kaleem and Waqas Ali, through unbeaten knocks, carried their team to the target in just 11.1 overs. Kaleem’s unbeaten 31 off 26 balls had four boundaries and one six while Ali’s unconquered 44 came off 28 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.

Asif Khan’s ton and Imran Tahir’s five-wicket spell

The Vision Shipping won the toss and elected to field.  InterGlobe Marine openers Asif Khan and Rizwan CP gave a splendid start putting on a 134 runs partnership in 12 overs. Rizwan fell three short of his half century when Wajid Khan trapped him leg before. His 47 off 32 balls had four boundaries and two sixes.

Asif Khan kept the runs flowing together with Basil Hameed putting on another 51 runs for the second wicket. After Hameed got caught by Ali Abid off Shahbaz Ali for 23, Amjad Gul too followed for 6, giving Shahbaz his second wicket. Asif Khan remained unbeaten with a majestic 125 that came off 65 balls with 12 boundaries and six sixes and ensured InterGlobe Marine a whopping total of 232 for 3 in 20 overs.

Vision Shipping not only cracked under the pressure of a huge score but also the skills of the experienced South African leg spinner Imran Tahir and the deadly swing from Pakistan pacer Muhammad Amir.

With the first ball of the innings Amir trapped Vision Shipping captain and opener Saqib Mehmood leg before for a duck. Amir then clean bowled one-drop batsman Shahbaz Ali for a duck with the fourth ball of that over. He also removed opener Wajid Khan by having him caught by Gopakumar Gopalakrishnan for 4.

Three down for 10 runs in 2.1 overs, Vision Shipping slipped to more disaster when Imran Tahir too began to strike. Tahir trapped Abdul Reham leg before for a duck, then clean bowled Haider Butt for 1.  Five down for just 12 runs, Abid Ali and Junaid Shamsu took the score to 33 when Tahir had Shamsu caught by Amjad Gul for 6. Abid Ali, who played out 16 balls to score 14 runs, too fell leg before to Tahir.  Tahir completed his five wicket spell by clean bowling Sajjad Malook for 1.

Left-handed Rizwan Amanat stunned everyone by standing amidst the ruins and hitting 40 runs off 24 balls. His innings contained five sixes and a boundary before he got stumped by Yasir off Shahnawaz Khan. Fayyaz Ahmed remained unbeaten on 8 while Shahnawaz Khan picked his second wicket trapping last man Sadaf Hussain for a duck. Vision Shipping’s innings lasted only 14.3 overs and they were all out for paltry 86 runs while InterGlobe Marine sailed to an emphatic 146 runs victory.

Tons by Tahir and Javed and Azhar’s four-wicket spell

Brothers Gas won the toss and opted to bat. Savannah Lions Cricket Club opening bowler Robin Gow Kleinshmid had the experienced opener Jiju Janardhanan caught behind by Jason Cook for 4. Meanwhile, Bradley Staddon also dismissed one-drop Abhinand Maladath clean bowled for a duck. Staddon then also got next man Dawood Ejaz out caught by Khalid Maharoof for 2. 

Opener Hamdan Tahir refused to be affected by the fall of wickets and kept the scoreboard moving. He got a good partner in Tanveer Javed and the two of them destroyed the early advantages of Lions Cricket Club through a strong partnership. The pair put on a 191 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. Tahir fell in the 18th over for 101 when Maharoof had him caught by Juandre. His knock came off 45 balls with 13 fours and four sixes.  Javed remained unbeaten on 106 off 57 balls with nine boundaries and five sixes to enable Brothers Gas a total of 251 for 5 in 20 overs.

Chasing a run rate of 12.55 needed a good start. Lions Club’s opener Mitchell got bowled by Saqib Manshad for 11. Skipper Juandre lasted only 14 balls to score 18 runs before being bowled by Umer Farooq.  Robin Gow Kleinshmidt and opener Bradley Staddon took the score to 114 when right-arm off spinner Dawood Ejaz struck twice. He had Robin caught and bowled for a run-a-ball 30 runs and then had Earl Kivedo caught by Abhinand Maladath for 2.

After M Zahid had Ceasario caught by Abhinand Maladath for 7, left-arm spinner Muhammad Azhar struck repeatedly. He ended Staddon’s fine knock of 76 off 54 balls with seven boundaries and three sixes and then went on to trap Khalid Maharoof leg before for a duck, clean bowled Jason Cook for no score, and then had Casper Olivier too for another duck. Lions crashed from 156 for 4 to 158 all out in 20 overs. Azhar returned with figures of 4 for 24 to ensure Brothers Gas a 93-runs victory.

Brief scores:

MGM Cricket Club beat Savannah Lions Cricket Club by 8 wickets.

Savannah Lions Cricket Club 101 for 7 in 20 overs (Bradley Staddon 23, Roshan Khan 31, Danish Qureshi 3 for 12, Muhammad Hassan 2 for 3)  MGM Cricket Club 102 for 2 in 11.1 overs ( Ansar Khan 25, Muhammad Kaleem 31n.o,  Waqas Ali 44n.o). Man of the Match: Danish Qureshi.

InterGlobe Marine beat The Vision Shipping by 146 runs. InterGlobe Marine 232 for 3 in 20 overs (Asif Khan 125n.o, Rizwan CP 47, Basil Hameed 23, Shahbaz Ali 2 for 38) The Vision Shipping 86 in 14.3 overs (Rizwan Amanat 40, Muhammad Amir 3 for 21, Imran Tahir 5 for 15, Shahnawaz Khan 2 for 20). Man of the Match: Asif Khan

Brothers Gas beat Savannah Lions Cricket Club by 93 runs.

Brothers Gas 251 for 5 in 20 overs (Hamdan Tahir 101, Tanveer Javed 106, Bradley Staddon 2 for 52)  Savannah Lions Cricket Club 158 in 20 overs (Bradley Staddon 76, Robin Gow Kleinshmidt 30, Muhammad Azhar 4 for 21, Dawood Ejaz 2 for 12). Man of the Match: Hamdan Tahir


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