Panthers lift Dulsco Ramadan cricket title

Mulk Royal Panthers dethroned holders Almasa IT Distribution with a 44-run victory in the final of the Dulsco Ramadan tournament.

Electing to bat first on winning the toss, the Panthers put on 158 for the loss of eight wickets and later bowled out their rivals for 114 to prevent Almasa prevailing for a fourth time in a row.

Umair Ali Khan scored an unbe-aten 43-ball 73 which included four sixes and five boundaries as the Panthers capitalised on dropped catches to post an imposing total.

“It was a dream come true for us,” said Panthers’ skipper Manal Siddiqui. “We were confident of victory, but did not expect to win by a huge margin.

“It was a fine team effort and credit must go to Umair and to our quartet of spinners – Zakir, Fayyaz, Nadeem and Zaheer – who made the victory possible.”

After the openers Zakir and Manal had put on 34 runs for the opening wicket, the Panthers lost wickets regularly and were reduced to five for 56 at one stage. But Umair seized the initative, Arif scored 14 and Hassan chipped in with 11 as Al Masa were set a target of 159 for victory.

Shafqat Al claimed three wickets for 27 runs, while Qasim and Amjad bagged two each for 23 and 28 runs respectively.

Murtaza Ali picked up one for 19 for Al Masa, who then began their chase badly when they lost opener Bootha M with no score. The other opener, Shabbir, hit a 13-ball 20 which included two sixes and one four.

Thereafter only three other batsmen – Murtaza (23no), Amjad 12 and Shibit 11 – reached double figures as they were all out for 114 in the 19th over.

All the bowlers did well for the winners as Zakir (2 for 14), Waqas (2–19), Nadeem (2–22) and Fayyaz (2– 22) picked up wickets. Zaheer bagged one for 36 and the bowlers were helped by some immaculate fielding by their team-mates.

Nadeem Hussein of MR Panthers was named the tournament’s best bowler for his 14 wickets; Haroon Ahmed of Multiplex International, the best batsman (240 runs); Ibrahim Pathan of Jashanmal, the best all-rounder (89 runs, eight wickets); and Azeem Ansari of Cricket Maxway, the most promising player.

Umair Ali Khan of the Panthers was named the DBMSC Steel man of the final and also picked up a prize for the first century of the tournament. Organiser Rafik Shaik was pleased to report the tournament was incident free, while DBMSC Steel confirmed they are already on board for next year.

A minute’s silence was also observed at the final for departed umpire Bahadur Ali Khan who officiated at the Dulsco matches for the past five years.

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