Sharjah welcomes 25th Bukhatir League final
Tony Munro - 21 May 1999

There are tournaments and then there are tournaments, and in the United Arab Emirates there is none bigger than the 25th Bukhatir League, the final of which is played today at the Sharjah Stadium, between New Medical Centre and Malik News Agency.

Mr. Mazhar Khan of the Emirates Cricket Board provided these reviews of the semi-finals:

A devastating bowling performance by Imtiaz Rasool (29-6) brought down to earth the title hopes of Emirates Airline as his team New Medical Centre hammered them by eight wickets in the semi-finals of the ongoing Panasonic Gold Cup for the 25th Bukhatir League. The event is sponsored by Oman National Electronic and organised by Sharjah Cricket Council.

Nothing went right for Emirates Airlines except the toss, which they duly won and elected to bat first. They had no inkling of the disaster waiting in the wings as Imtiaz Rasool struck early. Wickets fell like nine pins as Emirates batsmen paid a heavy price for their indiscretion. By the 11th over, the scoreboard was reading an incredible 36-6 as the batting inexplicably capitulated. Another couple of strikes by Masood Anwar (2 for 23) made the matters worse as Emirates Airline slipped to 53 for 8 in a bizarre match. Only a last ditch effort by Atif Ali (25) and Sandesh Desai (15 n.o.) added 33 runs for the ninth wicket before Imtiaz returned to mop up the tail as Emirates were finally dismissed for a paltry 92 in 28 overs. Pajesh Panchal (2 for 19) also bowled well.

New Medical Centre in reply knocked off the required runs without much fuss for the loss of two wickets to clinch a big victory. Burly Kaif Ghoury (35) batted well along with Saqib Ali (23 n.o.). New Medical Centre now awaits the winner of Malik News Agency and Expat C.C. in the final.

Brief Scores: New Medical Centre beat Emirates Airlines by eight wickets. Emirates Airline - 92 all out in 28 overs. (Atif Ali 25, Imtiaz Rasool 6 for 29, Rajesh Panchal 2 for 19, Masood Anwar 2 for 23) New Medical Centre - 93-2 in 21.2 overs. (Kaif Ghoury 35, Saqib Ali 23 n.o.) Man of the Match - Imtiaz Rasool (New Medical Centre).

Malik News Agency vs.Expats C.C. - Second Semi-Final Supremely confident Malik News Agency continued their good run and entered the final of Panasonic Gold Cup for 25th Bukhatir League, A Division. In an absorbing semi final they did enough to overpower battling Expat C.C. by 24 runs.

MNA, in their match against Expats, batted first and were soon in their stride as inform Saleem Raza launched his customary attack to provide a good start. His brief cameo of an innings of 36 came in only 26 balls with five fours and a six and his dismissal at 50 must have come as big relief to his beleaguered opponents. In fact Expats at that stage did well to pull themselves back as they grabbed a couple of more wickets to reduce MNA to 51-3. Shahid Saleem (48-3) removed Ishfaq Raza and Irfan Dar without scoring off consecutive deliveries but that proved to be the only success for some time to come as man of the match Hassan Mehmood (59 off 77 balls with six 4's) and Javed Ismail (71 off 113 balls with six 4's) batted sensibly to add 102 valuable runs for the fourth wicket to seize back the initiative. Later Faiyaz Haider (29 n.o.) did his bit to further consolidate the gains with the help of useful contributions from tailenders Zulfiqar Butt (14) and Shahid (18). Their good showing allowed MNA to post an imposing total 273 for 9 in 50 overs. Ahmad Hadi (47-2) was the other successful bowler.

Set to chase a stiff target of 274 for victory, Expats started well and were sitting pretty at 95 for 2 at one stage. They were even ahead of the asking rate but lanky Hassan Mehmood (49-2), who can do nothing wrong these days, changed the complexion of the game with two quick wickets. Opener Arshad (73) stuck to the task though and resurrected the innings to add 53 runs for the fifth wicket in company of Sundar (21) but their subsequent dismissal again put them back on the defensive. Talented Ejaz Arai (61 n.o.) then stepped in and played a gem of an innings which almost won the match for his team but he was stranded as he ran out of partners. He added 80 superlative runs in company of Mashood (28) for the seventh wicket which revived the hopes of his team but man of the hour Saleem Raza (51-2) intervened to dash their hopes as Expats were finally dismissed for 249 with two overs still to go. Bilal (23-2) and skipper Zulfiqar (32-1) bowled very well.

Brief Scores :
Malik News Agency beat Expats C.C. by 24 runs. Malik News Agency - 273-9 (50 ov.) (Hassan Mehmood 59, Saleem Raza 36, Javed Ismail 71, Faiyaz Haider 29 n.o., Shahid Saleem 48-3, Ahmad Hadi 47-2) Expats C.C. - 249 all out in 48 overs ( Jai Raj 22, Arshad 73, Sundar 21, Mashood 28, Ijaz 61 n.o., Bilal 23-2, Hassan Mahmood 49-2, Saleem Raza 51-2) Man Of The Match - Hassan Mahmood (Malik News Agency)