Flying start for UBL in KFC T20

Naeemuddin Aslam cracked a fine half century while Ahmed Raza scalped five wickets as UBL defeated Fly Emirates in Group C by 35 runs on the opening day of the newly launched KFC Emirates T20 Club Cricket League 2013 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The tournament is organised for the first time ever by the Emirates Cricket Board’s Domestic Cricket Development Committee (ECB-DCDC) and is presented by Grand Midwest Hotels.

Put in to bat, UBL did not have the best of the starts losing two wickets with just 28 runs on board.

But Anwar was not deterred by any of those as he hammered a superb 45 from just 28 deliveries peppered with five boundaries and two sixes.

His dismissal to Arshad Ali, who bagged three wickets from his four overs, did affect UBL’s run flow but Naeemuddin took stock of the situation scoring a meticulous 51 from 45 balls including two hits to the fence and three over it.

Ashraf Butt faced 13 balls to fire 24 lower the order and Abdullah Afzal chipped in with an unbeaten 15 as UBL achieved 156 for seven in 20 overs.

Nigel Fernandes was the other bowler to do well scalping two wickets for Fly Emirates.

Chasing a challenging total, Fly Emirates too suffered early setbacks despite opener Amjad Javed scoring a quick 15. Fernandes put up a brave fight to score a gritty 32 from 22 deliveries.

His efforts hardly mattered as Raza bowled a fiery spell to run through the middle order.

Ahmed Nizam scored 22 from 17 but Raza ended his innings to bag his five wickets from his four overs giving away only 18 runs.

That meant Fly Emirates could manage to achieve just 121 for nine in 20 overs.

Zahid Shah was the other successful bowler to scalp two wickets for the winners.

Brief scores

UBL bt Fly Emirates by 35 runs: UBL 156 for 7 in 20 overs (Aqeel Anwar 45, Naeemuddin Aslam 51, Ashraf Butt 24, Abdullah Afzal 15 not out; Arshad Ali 3 for 34, Nigel Fernandes 2 for 21) Fly Emirates 121 for 9 in 20 overs (Amjad Javed 15, Nigel Fernandes 32, Rahul Charrani 17, Ahmed Nizam 22; Ahmed Raza 5 for 18, Zahid Shah 2 for 19). Man of the Match: Ahmed Raza. Umpires: Ifthikar Ali and B A Khan. Scorers: Zameel Hameed

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