Male' Sports triumph over Hinnavaru Hiriya

Sunday, 29 April 2012 16:34

Male' Sports won their first Twenty20 title today beating rivals Hinnavaru Hiriya in a low scoring final match.

Having won the toss Male' Sports batted first but were restricted to 139 by some good bowling from Hiriya and by some indiscriminate shot play from Male' Sports players. Abdulla Shahid and Mahmood Riyaz started strongly, before Riyaz was caught for 10 runs by Rahal off the bowling of Ishan.  Shahid followed caught by a well judged catch from Mashkoor for 24 runs. Mohamed Aflah gave some stability with 20 runs but was bowled by Rahal for 20 runs. Ahmed Neesham played intelligently towards the end to give some respectability to Male' Sports scoreline making 38 runs from 27 balls.  Ahmed Umar was the pick of bowlers for Hiriya as he picked up 3 wickets for 37 runs.

Hiriya would have fancied their chances chasing such a low score with the firepower at the disposal. However, some suicidal shots from some of the key batsmen saw their innings floundering. Openers Shafraz and Hassan Sobir went cheaply, as did Ishan Jayakody.  Only 3 players, Mihusan Hamid (24 runs) and Hassan Haziq (12) and Ahmed Umar (18 runs) managed to make double digit scores. Ismail Nihad and Abdulla Shahid bowled miserly and affectively for Male' Sports, taking 7 wickets between them . Shahid too 4 wickets for 14 runs and Nihad 3 wickets for 19 runs.  Ismail Anil took 2 wickets for 24 runs in his 4 overs.

Abdulla Shahid scooped the individual awards at the awards ceremony after the end of the game. He won batsman, bowler and player of the tournament. Young wicket keeper Ismail Nashwan was the highest catch taker of the tournament.

Awards and medals were given away by Executive Committee members of CBM and by Chief Guest Adam Azim, General Manager of STO, the sponsor of the Philips Go Gear Twenty20 Cup. [scorecard] [Gallery]