Quality on show as Al Ain mark National Day in style
Morgan had setthetempo fornew York Strikers’ win byscoring ablitzkrieg 32off21balls withthe help ofthree hugesixes
His knock off 23 balls had four boundaries and three sixes.
With the score reading 90 for 5, the question was how much more would Delhi Bulls score. New York Strikers promptly introduced Rashid Khan for the ninth over and Bulls skipper Dwayne Bravo edged Rashid for a boundary. Delhi Bulls could get only eight runs off that over.
In the last over, Imad Wasim hit Kesrick Williams for a six to long leg. Off the fith delivery, Williams had Wasim out, caught by Muhammad Waseem at long on for 14. Aayan Afzal Khan thick edged the last ball for a boundary for a total of 112 for 6.
New York Strikers began their chase with Eoin Morgan, hero of their last match against Northern Warriors through an unbeaten 87, opening the innings with Paul Stirling. Morgan got dropped by Rillee Rossouw off the first ball from Imad Wasim at backward square leg. Morgan celebrated his luck by hiting Wasim’s fourth delivery for a six to long-on. Morgan got another life too off the fith delivery when Aayan Khan dropped him at point.
Falhaq Farooqi, who bowled the second over, got Stirling out pulling to Rossouw at mid-wicket for 5. Richard Gleeson had Muhammad Waseem cut to Rahmanullah Gurbaz at sweeper cover for 1. When Falhaq Farooqi bowled another good over, except for giving away a boundary to Azam Khan, the required run rate began to rise to over 13 an over.
AL AIN: Al Ain has the privilege of hosting racing on UAE National Day, staging a seven race card, all for Purebred Arabians, with three contests carrying prize money of Dhs150,00 sharing top billing.
Arguably the best race in the card is a conditions race over 1800m in which the weights are headed by Yas Racing’s Jugurta De Monlau, to be partnered by Pat Dobbs for Jean-claude Pecout. With an official rating of 120 (on dirt), courtesy of his victory in March’s 2000m Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3, he would appear the classiest performer on the card.
That said, he was well beaten on his reappearance in a similar conditions race over this Al Ain 1800m, when only fourth behind Oss, again in opposition for Abdallah Al Hammadi. Oss is penalised for that success but still meets Pecout’s charge on beter terms.
For Helal Alalawi, RB Frynch Dude, receiving weight from the pair mentioned above, will be a massive threat to all his seven opponents if fit and raring to go on his seasonal debut. He was last seen in public winning the 2000m Al Ain Cup on the first day of April.
Alalawi also saddles RB Bradley Nelson, the mount of Champion Jockey Tadhg O’shea, but well beaten in the race won by Oss and a place (more than ten lengths) behind Jugurta De Monlau, finishing fith on his UAE debut.
O’shea would appear to have a leading chance in a similar race over 2000m in which he partners No And No Al Maury for his main employer Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda and the `champion Owner’s principal trainer Ernst Oertel.
A rarity in the vast Al Nabooda string in that he is not homebred, the 8yo entire has not really fired in his four UAE outings, including one start this season on the Abu Dhabi turf, but has form at the highest level in Europe. In such good hands, he could well be capable of bouncing back to form.
On ratings, his main danger would appear to be the Alalawi-trained Kalifano De Ghazal who has the added benefit of apprentice Qais Al Busaidi lessening his burden by 2.5kgs. Only a 4yo, the colt posted his sole success in a maiden over 1800m here at Al Ain so clearly handles the surface.
The finale, a 1000m conditions contest, is the third of the races sharing top billing and looks wide open, a case to arguably be made for the majority of the ten declared runners.
At the top of the weights and conceding weight to his nine rivals, Gold Silver has obvious claims in the silks of Ziad Galadari under Sam Hitchcot for Ibrahim Aseel.