Ali's trophy pile runneth over

SHARJAH // Arshad Ali says he does not have enough space for all his man-of-the-match trophies at his home in Dubai so he has been forced to send them home to his mother in Pakistan. The leg-spinning all-rounder, 32, earned another match award for his three-wicket haul as Fly Emirates beat Fortune Group in the tournament opener. The sponsors, Rufi Real Estate, offer cash-prizes rather than trinkets to their top-performers - which is lucky for Arshad as he is running out of room on his mantle-piece.

The UAE's most prolific all-rounder has been the player of the tournament at the last three ACC Trophy competitions, including last month when the national team finished runners-up to Hong Kong. In that time he has, by his calculations, collected 10 separate match awards. He is no less dominant in domestic competitions, and his form has gone a long way to establishing Fly Emirates as the premier side in UAE cricket.

He said: "I send them home to my mother, and she is always very pleased. She has them all at the house in Sialkot. "We lost out in the semi- finals of this competition last year, and winning it is going to be difficult as the other teams have brought in some very good players." Mohammed Iqbal, Arshad's free-hitting opening partner for both Fly Emirates and the national team, top-scored with 30 as they sealed a four wicket win with four balls to spare.

In Friday night's late game Hamid Ali's ton provided the foundation for Al Hamad Contracting's colossal 196 run win over Step Electro Mechanical. Hamid made 102, Khurram Shahzad 66 and Kashif Butt 59 as Hamad racked up a monstrous 281 for three in their 20 overs. Electro were completely overwhelmed and did not get close in reply, managing just 85 for seven, despite some dogged resistance from Kunhi Mohammed.