PUNE, May 5: A timely half-century by middle-order batsman Afzal Khan and an equally supportive spell by Sameer Anwar and Rizwan Anwar enabled Azhar XI to clinch a 54-run win against Spirited Fighter in the International Cable Communication cricket tournament at the Poona Club, here today.Electing to bat, Azhar XI, with Afzal Khan's 50, scored a total of 152 runs for the loss of seven wicket. With opener Arif Khan (17) and Rizwan Shaikh (13) walking back to pavilion quite early and the next in batsmen Ajay Kothavle (7) and Sunil Bhosale (9) also failing to pull the team out of the early shock, Afzal Khan played very well in the pressure situation. He, realising the need of the hour, put his head down and was quite successful in leading the team out of the crises. Afzal was later adjudged Man-of-the-Match. It was Chirag Irani (3 for 34) who did the major damage to Azhar XI's, while Nirav Solanki, Sunil Lulla, Manohar Desai and Suresh Pinjani chipped in with one wicket each for Spirited Fighter.
But, despite not so satisfactory batting, Azhar XI pulled out a convincing win when they, with the help of Sameer Anwar and Rizwan Anwar (both claiming two wickets each), restricted Spirited Fighter to 98 in 18.2 overs.
BRIEF SCORES
Camp Star XI: 112 for 9 in 20 overs (Manoj Shah 32, Muqhtar Moloo 25, Manoj Sonavane 13 n.o., Maruti Valgude 1/26, Ravish Hansare 3/24, Rakesh Bidkar 1/23, Gregary Saldana 1/30) lost to NHCC: 116 for 2 wicket in 17.5 overs (Gregary Saldana 44 n.o., Maruti Balgide 27 n.o., Ejas Shaikh 9, Arjun Chauhan 8, Shamshuddin Qureshi 2/22). Man-of-the-Match: Gregary Saldana.
Azhar XI: 152 for seven in 20 overs (Afzal Khan 50, Arif Khan 17, Rizwan Shaikh 13, Sameer Shaikh 18, Sajid Shaikh 7 n.o., Sabir Khan 2 n.o., Chirag Irani 3/34, Nirav Solanki 1/36, Sunil Lulla 1/27, Manohar Desai 1/21, Suresh Pinjani 1/32) beat Spirited Fighter: 98 in 18.2 overs (Sunil Lulla 29, Kishor Babani 12, Rajesh Lulla 8, Sameer Anwar 2/8, Rizwan Anwar 2/22, Afzal Khan 1/14, Sunil Bhosale 1/16, Latif S K 1/2). Man-of-the-Match: Afzal Khan.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.