Seven Seas book quarter-final berth

Mohammed Bilal fired a superb 72 as Seven Seas Strikers defeated Fly Emirates by six runs to enter the quarter-finals of the Danube Ramadan Twenty20 Cup held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday night.

The tournament is hosted by Dubai Sports City and sponsored by Danube Group with Khaleej Times, Ten Cricket and Radio 4 as media partners.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Seven Seas lost Usman Aziz (8) early but that did not upset Bilal’s concentration.

He and Mohammed Tariq put on 98 runs for the second wicket. Bilal’s  51-ball knock consisted of six boundaries and three sixes, while Tariq scored six boundaries in his 42 from 33 balls.

Ghulam Rasool smashed a nine-ball 24 with five fours as Seven Seas raced to a competitive 176 for five in 20 overs.

In reply, openers Mohammed Iqbal and Usman Mushtaq gave a splendid start to Emirates as they smashed 55 runs in the first five overs.

Iqbal hit three sixes and two boundaries in his 18-ball 32 while Usman scored 16 in 11 balls with the help of two fours and one six.

Both departed in a short gap of time but Arshad Ali and Amjed Javed held the innings firm to add 44 runs for the third wicket. Amjed was out on 15 and Arshad was unlucky to be run out for 22.

The road to victory suddenly looked tough for Emirates at this stage. A quickfire 24 off just 11 balls by Javid Ismail with three boundaries and one six gave a glimmer of a hope but Farhan Ahmed ran through the lower order with three quick wickets as Emirates were bundled out for 170 in 20 overs.

Mohammed Tariq was the other successful bowler with three wickets.

In the other match, Phoenix Medicine scored an easy seven-wicket victory over Farooq CC in a low scoring contest.

Batting first, the top order failed to score as Farooq were tottering at 49 for five. Rashid Khan fought a lone battle to score an unbeaten 41 off 29 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and one six to give Farooq some respectability to the total as they finished 109 for eight in 20 overs.

Rohan Mustafa and Shoaib Laghari took two each for Phoenix.

In reply, Fahad Ansari scored an unbeaten on 36 (20 balls, 5x4, 1x6) while Zeeashan Jamil scored 29 (13 balls, 3x4, 2x6) and Amjad Gujjar made 24 (13  balls, 1x4, 2x6) to ensure Phoenix achieved the target in just 9.1 overs

Brief scores

Seven Seas Strikers beat Fly Emirates by six runs:

Seven Seas 176 for 5 in 20 overs (Mohammed Bilal 72, Mohammed Tariq 42, Ghulam Rasool 24no; Amjed Javed 2-30, Usman Mushtaq 2-36). Emirates 170 all out in 20 overs (Mohammed Iqbal 32, Usman Mushtaq 16, Amjed 15, Arshad Ali 22, Javid Ismail 24; Farhan Ahmed 3-22, Mohammed Tariq 3-14). Man of the Match: Mohammed Tariq of Seven Seas Strikers.

Phoenix Medicine beat Farooq CC by 7 wickets:

Farooq CC 109 for 8 in 20 overs (Fardan Khalid 17, Rashid Khan 41no; Rohan Mustafa 2-24, Shoaib Laghari 2-13). Phoenix Medicine 110 for 3 in 9.1 overs (Fahad Ansari 36no, Zeeshan Jamil 29, Amjad Gujjar 24). Man of the match: Fahad Ansari of Phoenix Medicine
 

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