Gymkhana edge thriller against Rufi

Tahir Butt and Irfan Haider produced brilliant spells of bowling to guide William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana to a narrow two-wicket victory over Rufi Real Estate in the 23rd Sharjah Ramadan Tournament for the Interface Transworld Cup at the Sharjah stadium on Sunday night. Tahir returned with an impressive four-wicket haul for just 15 runs while Irfan conceded only four runs for his three wickets as Rufi Real Estate, put in by their opponents, were out for 97 in the 24th over on the sixth day of the tournament which is organised by the Sharjah Cricket Council (SCC).

The Abu Dhabi team, in reply, also stuttered and stumbled coming out of the blocks, but managed to clinch the tense thriller with just three balls to spare. Saqib Shah (23 off 27 balls) and Haroon Iftikhar (23 off 58 balls) stood out for their performances with the bat. In other Ramadan tournaments, Swapnil Patil smashed a blistering half-century to power Yogi Group to a comfortable 71-run victory over another Rufi Real Estate team in the second Al Dhaid Ramadan Twenty 20 tournament, organised by the SCC at Al Dhaid Cricket Village.

The former Mumbai Ranji Trophy player cracked 70 off just 45 balls with six fours and three sixes as Yogi Group, batting first, piled up a massive total of 198 for five in the allotted 20 overs. Rufi Real Estate, in reply, were bowled out for 128 in the 20th over with Salman Faris taking three wickets for just 14 runs. Aneesh K, the off-spinner, bagged six wickets and scored 89 runs to help Pacers Ramadi score an easy victory over AMI in the Dulsco Ramadan Cricket tournament being played at Zabeel Park grounds Dubai.

Batting first, Pacers Ramadi amassed 248 runs thanks to three half-centuries by Aneesh, Shahzad and Jamil who punished AMI bowlers for every loose ball. Later they bowled out AMI for a paltry 94 runs in 19.2 overs. * Agency