The Bahrain cricket scene has been all Bahrain Cricket Club and Young Boys with both teams featuring in the two finals of the Bahraini cricket season played so far. Guy Parker tells you how the finals panned out. The articles appear thanks to the generosity of the 'Bahrain Tribune', to whom BTTW is grateful.

In the second successive final between BCC and Young Boys the result was again a win for the champions. Young Boys had to be content with running up yet again. Indeed, they threw in the towel with still four overs to go, though they can claim that the light had faded and with 60 needed for victory and only 4 overs and two wickets left, the game was most probably beyond saving. It is a shame that 15 minutes of light were lost due to a disputed decision, occasioned by the lack of bails, when it was claimed that Mohammed Yaqoob of Young Boys had been clean bowled. As it turned out the big-hitter was allowed to remain but succumbed for a mere nine runs when Yasser Sadiq, back from the USA, brilliantly caught him off Zulfiqar Ali.

Metronomic progress

It was as well for BCC that Yaqoob was removed at that stage, as the early Young Boys batsmen Rana Fayyaz and Abdul Waheed had matched BCC's metronomic scoring rate of just above seven an over for ten of the allotted 24 overs. Things started to go pear shaped when both were out and Yaqoob and Qamar Saeed struggled against some sparkling spin bowling by Nadeem Boota. His left arm magic cast a spell on the batsmen, as he employed his full array of turn and flight. In a match where seven an over was a minimum requirement Nadeem's figures of 5 overs, 22 runs for 4 wickets tell their own tale. Pace man Zulfiqar Ali was equally parsimonious, giving away just 25 in his 5 overs, and claiming Yaqoob along with the dangerous Abdul Waheed.

BCC had the batting strength of Ashraf Baig to thank for their challenging total. He dug BCC out of the hole they found themselves in after Fahad Sadiq, Nadeem Shafi and skipper Mohammed Ashraf had all gone cheaply. When Shehzad was run out for 11 the score was only 74 for 4. Baig , however, continued his serene progress, never becoming becalmed, and never panicking. Nadeem Boota justified his "all-rounder" tag in his supporting role. Apart from Baig's 52 and Boota's 40, only Nasser Hilal's late slogging for 21 were of note in the strong BCC line-up.

Scores : BCC 183 all out (24 overs) Young Boys CC 124-8 (20 overs)

More cups

With two BCA trophies under their belts so far this season, not to mention the international trophy they routinely picked up last week, this is proving a bumper season for BCC. The BCA 40 over knock out cup is still in progress. There follow the 25 over league and cup competitions. Who knows, maybe BCC can pick up five trophies in one season! Somebody, somewhere out there must be able to beat them!

It was Bahrain CC's second tournament win, after winning the first final of the season in November.

Why, oh why did the Young Boys' skipper, Qamar Saeed, elect to bat? The occasion was the final of the inaugural 40 over tournament organized by the BCA. The two best teams in Bahrain, BCC and Young Boys, faced each other at the Punjab Ground, both with 100% records for the season, and neither having experienced any hardship en route to the final. BCC usually relied on their bowling strength and professional fielding to reduce their opposition to gettable totals. Young Boys, whilst fielding several top bowlers, have won most of their games chasing any total with batsmen who love to make quick, spectacular runs. So, why did their skipper elect to bat? That decision, a bold one indeed, handed the advantage to BCC, playing to their bowling strengths and giving the batsmen a target, rather than the insecurity of not knowing how big a total would be enough.

Early breakthrough

Without a target to chase the Young Boys batsmen are lost. Openers Abdul Waheed and Sajid wafted in a desultory fashion at Nasir Hilal and Zulfiqar Ali's early overs. 23 slow runs came in seven overs, but they were both caught off Nasir and it was left to Rana Fayaz and Zahid Majeed to dig them out of trouble. This they did, not in the hard-hitting style they have adopted all season, but painstakingly slowly. This was the most interesting passage of play in the whole match, and it should have acted as a launch pad for the fireworks of Qamar Saeed and Mohammed Yaqoob. With half the overs gone and only 80 on the board Zahid left the stage to his skipper. If the big left-hander has any weakness, it is to the ball pitched on leg stump and leaving him. Who then should step up to bowl, but Zafar Zaheer, the right arm off spinner. Qamar had no answer to the prodigious spin Zafar extracted from the coir mat. Playing and missing five balls on the trot Qamar popped the next, the arm ball, straight back to the grateful hands of the bowler.

Enter Yaqoob

Mohammed Yaqoob came in like a man possessed. Two balls to get his eye in and the next two smashed for sixes way over the boundary. This had the effect of removeing Zafar from the attack, but he returned three overs later to claim Yaqoob's wicket just after Ashraf Baig had ended Rana's vigil for 44. Late hitting by Mohammed Nadeem and Nasser, both of whom haven't had to bat much this season, saw the score to 186 all out, not enough by any stretch of the imagination, against a team like BCC.

Too many batsmen

BCC this season have flattered a few attacks by losing easy wickets before seemingly coming to their batting senses and wrapping up the matches. They continued the habit in the final, losing their first three wickets for only 20 runs. Ashraf Baig joined Nadeem Shafi at the crease and in a businesslike fashion the two added 110 in 19 overs. Young Boys only hope lay in the bowling hands of their skipper. Qamar duly returned to the attack and removed three batsmen, starting with Nadeem, who ended with a commendable 62. Baig stood fast to reach 69 not out and BCC's number eight batsman, Zafar, stroked a stately 22 not out. The job was done with five overs to spare. There is another cup in the BCC vault. Young Boys, who will certainly find themselves in another final or two against BCC must rethink their battle plan.

Score:

Young Boys 186 (40 overs)

BCC 189-6 (35 overs)

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