Qatar: In the Annual INDIAN CRICKET FESTIVAL MATCH 2016, AMBASSADOR XII narrowly defeated INDIAN COMMUNITY XII by 5 wickets. Last year also the AMBASSADOR XII had lifted the Trophy.
Winning the toss AMBASSADOR XII elected to bowl. When was Captain Sanjiv Arora asked why he elected to field? He said, “For me the Community is always first. So let them bat!”
Winning Skipper Sanjiv Arora and V.Srinivasan receiving Trophy from Chief Guest Lt. Abdullah Khamis AlHamad, Assistant Secretary & Head of Sports Centre, Qatar Police Sports Federation in presence of Ambassador XII Team Members
The INDIAN COMMUNITY XII batsmen played freely making a mockery of the bowling and were cruising at 101 runs for no loss in the first 12 overs. They were assisted by misfielding and dropped catches. However, tight and accurate bowling thereafter restricted INDIAN COMMUNITY XII to 136 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. The par score for the ground being 160 runs! Gopal of whom much was expected was brilliantly stumped by Keeper Capt Ravi off the looping bowling of Tariq Kureishy. As expected Gopal was unhappy with the decision and was insisting on referring to the 3rd Umpire, not realizing that there was no 3rd Umpire! Too much of IPL! Habib Un Nabi was top scorer with 24 runs, Mohammed Fuad hit 21 runs with 2 boundaries while Abdulla and Jaseem contributed 16 runs each.
Shinod Mon, Tariq Kureishy and Ravi Shankar claimed a wicket each.
In reply AMBASSADOR XII openers Aysha Mohammed, the Captain of the Qatar Women’s Cricket team and Tariq Kureishy started strongly putting on 16 runs in 2 overs. However 3rd over bowled by Habib un Nabi saw him remove Aysha well caught by Jaseem and Capt Ravi caught by Mohammed Fuad. At the end of 12 overs AMBASSADOR XII were 99 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Sanaullah played sensibly to stabilize the innings and remained 21 runs not out. Tariq Kureishy anchored the innings to be top scorer 25 runs not out. Vijees 18 runs nout out, Ramest 17 runs not out, While Ravi Shankar and Deepu 16 runs each not out saw AMBASSADOR XII score 137 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 19.1 overs.
Habib un Nabi and Abdulla took 2 wickets each while Sanjiv Jain took a wicket.
Man of the Match : Ravi Shankar / Ambassador XII
Best Bowler : Habib Un Nabi / Indian Community XII
Best Batsman : Tariq Kureishy / Ambassador XII
Commentary was enthusiastically given by Kumar Naidu and Tufael Matheen. DJ Anil Bolaar kept the audience enthralled with his peppy music. All in all everyone enjoyed the entertaining cricket in a scenic setting with loads of roars & cheers!
The Prize Distribution Committee comprised of Chief Guest Lt Abdullah Khamis Al Hamad, Assistant Secretary & Head of Sports Centre, Qatar Police Sports Federation who gave away the Winning Trophy, the Indian Ambassador Sanjiv Arora, V Srinivasan, General Manager of Gulf Incon, Farukh Sardar, General Manager of Mannai Air Travel and Gul Khan, Head of Domestic Cricket, Qatar Cricket Association who gave away the prizes.
As the Ambassador Sanjiv Arora summed up, “the ultimate winner is the game of cricket and the camaraderie of the Indian community!”