One Stop Tourism outplay Bukhatir XI

A clinical performance from One Stop Tourism resulted in the final of the Dubai Cricket Council's Ramadan T20 Bash turning out into a lop-sided affair.

Rohan Mustafa was instrumental in his side going all the way. The UAE captain not only guided One Stop to a thumping eight-wicket win over Bukhatir XI in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday night with a superb unbeaten 62 but also walked away with the Man of the Tournament award for his 157 runs and eight wickets in four matches.

Everything seemed to go right for Mustafa. He won the toss and invited Bukhatir XI to take first strike. And his bowlers backed his decision by bagging wickets at regular intervals.

Zawar Farid (20) and Khalid Shah did give Bukhatir XI a decent start but Man of the Match Ahmed Raza kept pegging them back with crucial wickets. He first removed Shah and then broke the backbone of Bukhatir XI with two middle-order wickets - that of Best batsman of the Tournament Adnan Mufti (32), who was looking good and was threatening to take the match away from them, and Rizwan CP (3).

Having lost six wickets for the loss of 91 runs it looked gloomy for Bukhatir XI until Rameez Shehzad (24) and Mohammed Halan (20) threw their bats around for some quick runs. But despite their efforts Bukhatir XI could muster only 135 for 8 in their 20 overs.The credit for restricting them also goes to Umair Ali Khan for a brilliant spell of 3 for 20.

Chasing 136 was not going to be difficult and with Rohan Mustafa in ominous form the target was made to look smaller as One Stop reached it in 16.2 overs.

Opener Mustafa was in sublime form as he caressed the ball easily to the ropes. His unbeaten 62 had a six and seven fours and came off only 52 balls.

But it was his partner Hafiz Kaleem who blazed away to 40 from 15 balls (1x6, 7x4) that caught the eye. Ghulam Shabbir (29 not out) and Mustafa then ensured their team reached home with much fuss.

Brief scores (final): Bukhatir XI 135 for 8 in 20 overs (Adnan Mufti 32, Rameez Shehzad 24, Zawar Farid 20, Mohammed Halan 20; Ahmed Raza 3-15, Umair Ali Khan 3-20) One Stop Tourism 139 for 2 in 16.2 overs (Rohan Mustafa 62 n.o., Hafiz Kaleem 40, Ghulam Shabbir 29 n.o.).

Awards

Man of the final: Ahmed Raza.

Best batsman: Adnan Mufti of Bukhatir XI (5 matches, 206 runs)

 Best bowler: Mohammed Halan of Bukhatir XI (5 matches, 9 wickets).

Player of the Tournament: Rohan Mustafa of One Stop Tourism (4 matches, 157 runs and 8 wickets).

Source: .khaleej Times