Khurram stars in Fly Emirates victory

Khurram Khan hit a brilliant half-century to guide Fly Emirates to a tense 16-run victory over Gyan Steel in the 37th Bukhatir League ‘A’ Division Tournament, organised by the Sharjah Cricket Council, at the Sharjah stadium on Wednesday night. Khurram smashed nine fours in his solid 78 off 63 balls while Arshad (46 off 78 balls) and Saby Fernandes (45 off 47) further consolidated the gains with some fine batting as Fly Emirates, batting first after winning the toss, scored 300 for eight. Gyan Steel, in reply, played with determination, but fumbled close to the finishing line despite a good knock from Harris Khan (47 off 44) and A. Kaleem (40 off 68). Khurram Khan rounded off a fine all-round performance taking two for 32. Brief scores: Fly Emirates beat Gyan Steel CC by 16 runs: Fly Emirates 300 for eight in 50 overs (Khurram Khan 73, Arshad Ali 46, Saby Fernandes 45, Amjad Javed 30, Javed Ismail 28, Mohammed Iqbal 23, Lalith Dahanayake 20 not out; Amir Jaffer 2-49, Zeeshan Khan 2-54). Gyan Steel CC 284 all out in 49 overs (Harris Khan 47, Kaleem 40, Zeeshan Khan 38, Kashif Khan 38, Nafees Khan 2-32; Nigel Fernandes 2-36, Amjad Javed 2-45, Arshad Ali 2-52). Man of the match: Khurram Khan of Fly Emirates. Umpires: Prem Mishra and Qasim Abbas.