Shine Strikers Sparkle in Alliance T20 Final win over Exiles Cricket Club

Dubai Exiles Cricket Club‘s T20 side would have gone into Friday’s Alliance Friday Bash final against the Shine Strikers with high hopes. As it turned out, the Exiles ran into a Shine Strikers side with their batting openers, Naveen Sukamaran and Muhammad Waseem Jaan In sinterlating form.

By the time the first wicket fell, the wicket of Muhammed Waseem Jaan, Shine Strikers had 214 runs on the board and well on their way to their final total of 251 runs.

To win the final, the task for Exiles Cricket Club was simple, just need to average about 13 runs an over to take the title.

Shine Strikers batting was ferocious

Akbar Bosan knows that was close

13 year old Oliver Wood takes aim at the Strikers’ batting

Naveen Sukumaran and Muhammad Waseem Jaan were sensational in this late evening match. Between them they hit twenty five x fours and nine x 6s and were responsible for 219 runs of the Shine Strikers total.

Varun Kumar fires one n from the outfield

Flynn Eglen (14)

The enormous run chase wasn’t the only issue for the Exiles. It was a 9pm start at Skyline University in Sharjah and by the time Shine Strikers had posted their total, most of the spectators were wrapped up in thermals, sweaters, hoodies and woolly hats. It was more reminiscent of the Everest base camp rather than a cricket match in the sunny UAE. It was cold – very cold!

Race to the crease between batsman and ball

A run chase of 13 runs an over brings a significant amount of pressure to swing the bat and chase big boundaries. Exiles openers Harsh ‘Harry’ Udeshi and Salman Asghar were looking to make a good start. At the start of the final, Harry Udeshi was the number two ranked batsman in the competition, by the time the final was finished, Harry, who scored an unbeaten 94 in this final, would finish the competition ranked number 1.

Salman Asghar was bowled out by Harsh Chhawani after he posted 6 runs on the scoreboard. Varun Kumar came in to bat but didn’t fair much better, Varun added one run before being caught by Atul Chowdhary off Harsh Chhawani. Ashit Anandkumar was unfortunately dispatched without adding anything.

Shayan Khan made a fight of it, Shayan added 29 to the Exiles score, an innings that contained four x 4s. The clock had gone past midnight and it was now bitingly cold at the Victoria Skyline Cricket Ground. Akbar Bosan arrived and was clearly intent on chasing the big boundaries. The first ball he faced received a thumping response and looked set to clear the rope. Sadly, the ball came down just short of the boundary and Akbar Bosan was on his way back to the rest of the Exiles team.

Exiles are off and running

Musadiq Puri and Aaryan Ahuja both tried to help Harsh ‘Harry’ Udeshi chase the total, but reality had taken hold and the Exiles had run out of overs.

Congratulations to Shine Strikers on their win, their opening batsmen put on a sparkling performance and, in the end, an unassailable total.

Shayan Khan scored 29 including 4 boundaries

Flynn Eglen delivers some refreshments