Noor Al Yemen advance to quarters

sharjah — Noor Al Yemen were made to toil on their way to a three wicket win over Anib On Top in the 45th Bukhatir Premier League 2019 match played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

However, both teams made the quarterfinals where they will be joined by NMC, Chemie Tech, IGM Orakzai, Elite CC, Bukhatir XI and Atlas Foundation.

Noor will clash with NMC, Chemie Tech will take on IGM Orakzai, while Elite CC and Anib XI On Top will battle in the third quarter and lastly Bukhatir XI and Atlas Foundation will decide the fourth semifinal slot.

Noor were set a small target of 139 for victory by ANIB but their top four batsmen were back in the pavilion with the score card reading 5 runs for four wickets.

Khushdil Shah and Shahan Akram dug themselves in to pull Noor out of a hole. Khushdil didn’t let the situation bog him down and played freely for his 29 runs which came from only 19 balls and included three boundaries and two sixes.

In contrast Shahan played a patient innings of 26 which came off 59 balls and consisted only three fours. Shahan also gave Safeer Tariq good support.

Safeer went on to win the man of the match award for his 53 (78 balls, 4x4, 4x6) but it was Shahan who deserves praise not only for his crucial knock with the bat but his bowling which read 1.2-0-2-3. That spell was instrumental in bowling ANIB out for a paltry 138.

Earlier, ANIB on winning the toss received a good start from openers Asif Hayat (14) and Muhammed Imran (47) but the middle order and the tail lost their way against some good bowling from Shahan and Ahmed Raza who also grabbed three wickets for the cost of 31 runs.

Anib too progress

> ANIB 138 all out in 40.2 overs (Muhammed Imran 47; Ahmed Raza 3-31, Shahan Akram 3-2) lost to Noor Al Yemen 139 for 7 in 34.5 overs (Safeer Tariq 53, Khushdil Shah 29, Shahan Akram 26; Chethiya Deshan Gamage 3-29, Laxman Sreekumar 2-26) by 3 wkts. Man of the match: Safeer Tariq.