ABU DHABI: Fujairah bowlers led by Umair Ali Khan decimated Sharjah’s batting charge before Salman Khan and Nasir Faraz scored 29 each in the run chase to propel them to a resounding seven-wicket victory and into the Emirates D10 League final.
Put into bat first, Sharjah’s batting lineup failed in the semi-final and could raise a modest 76 for the loss of eight wickets in their quota of 10 overs.
None of the Sharjah batters could manage to score big in the knockout match while lower middle order batter Khalid Shah top-scored for them with 15 off eight deliveries.
Besides him, Fayyaz Ahmad (11) and Junaid Shamsuddin (13) were the other notable run-getters while five of their batters failed to make it into the double figures.
Umair Ali Khan led Fujairah’s commanding bowling charge as he returned with magnificent figures of 3/11 in his quota of two overs.
Haider Ali was also clinical with the ball for them as he picked up two wickets while Muhammad Rohid, Shahbaz Ali and Hafiz Almas struck out a batter apiece.
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Fujairah had a decent start to their 77-run pursuit as their openers Salman Khan and Hameed Khan (5) added 35 runs for the first wicket before the latter perished on the last delivery of the third over.
Fujairah then lost two more wickets in quick succession as Raees Ahmad (1) and Salman Khan both perished in the fourth over.
Salman struck four boundaries and a six on his way to a 15-ball 29 and remained the joint top-scorer for Fujairah.
Following the brief collapse, Muhammad Usman (8*) and Nasir Faraz put on a match-winning 40-run partnership for the fourth wicket and completed a comfortable victory for their side which bolstered them to book their spot in the Emirates D10 League final.
Nasir Faraz was the joint top-scorer for Fujairah; courtesy of a quickfire 29 from a mere 14 balls with the help of three boundaries and two sixes.
Taimoor Bhatti led the bowling attack for Sharjah with 2/17 while Muhammad Uzair-Khan took a wicket.
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