HFZA and Scan post convincing victories in RPL matches

SHARJAH: Atif Majeed and A Rafi bowled superb spells as HFZA Cricket Team defeated Aries Marine by 58 runs in a Rashid Alleem Premier League match on Saturday.

Both the bowlers took three wickets each as HFZA successfully defended the modest total of 91 runs.

After posting a paltry total of 99, HFZA restricted Aries to 41.

Majeed and Rafi did not allow any Marine batsman to settle down. So ferocious were both the bowlers that none of the Aries batsmen could manage to reach double-figure mark.

Marine got off to a bad start as they lost their first wicket for nought when Balu Babu was run out.

Rafi started the skid when he clean bowled Ajeesh Vijay. Majeed heaped more misery on Marine by sending back Vyshak Ramakrishnan.

Marine kept on losing the wickets in quick successions as no bastman could put up any resistance against the ferocious and disciplined bowling of HFZA.

They were reduced to 8-6 in four overs. Tail-enders waged a battle to delay the inevitable but could manage to reach only 41 runs.

Rafi and Majeed conceded 10 and fours from their 3 and 4 overs respectively.

Earlier, Rafi also scored a 43-ball 35 to help his team notch a respected total of 99. He was well supported by Hariharan Sasidhharan.

In another match, Scan Electromechanical overcame Sewa B by 13 runs.

Chasing a modest total of 125, Sewa B could manage to reach only 112 for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

Wasim Shah (35) and Sattar Baig (34) were the main scorers for Scan. They shared a 51-run stand for the fourth wicket to take the score to 94-4.

Shah hit five boundaries while Baig smashed one four and one six during his stay at the crease.

Scan’s Muhammad Adnan was wreckerin-chief as he took three wickets, conceding only seven runs from his four overs.

He rattled the stumps of Ajeesh Kurup (34), Abdullah Jr (31) and Shahid Khan (2) to push Sewa B completely on back foot. Kurup hit three fours while Abdullah was more watchful as he hit only one boundary.

Sewa B could never recover from there on as they consumed too many deliveries in bringing the innings back on the track. They fell short by 13 runs in the end.