The captain of Punishers, receiving the winners’ trophy from Ali Akbar Al Farabi, Sales Manager, Qatar Airways. Punishers defeated Kerala Eleven to win the Qatar Airways Division C title of Qatar Cricket Association (QCA).
Doha: Punishers Club edged Kerala Eleven by one wicket to win the Qatar Airways Division B Cricket Tournament of Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) orgnaised tournament.
At the West Bay Grounds, Waqas of Punishers Club turned in a superb all-round performance in the Qatar Airways sponsored tournament to guide his team to a close win.
Maqbool gave good support for Waqas.
Chasing a stiff 218-run target, Punishers Club lost wickets regularly. Murad made 22. So did Feroz. But a fighting 43 by Waqas and 57 by Maqbool helped them hold their innings together and set up a thrilling victory.
Shameer and Shamseer bowled well to share six wickets. Nazim picked two. Azhar and Sajir removed one player each.
Earlier, batting first, Kerala XI made 217 before getting all out in 40 overs. Siraj struck an unbeaten 77 to lay the foundation of their innings. Shameer chipped in with 37. Waqas came up with a three-wicket haul. Ramzi and Murad took two scalps each. Maqbool and Tahir shared other two wickets.
Ali Akbar Al Farabi, Sales Manager, Qatar Airways, presided over the closing ceremony and gave away the trophies and prizes. The QCA officials present were Manzoor Ahmad, General Secretary, Gul Khan Jadoon, Head of Domestic Affairs, Chaudhury Ahmad, Senior Coach, Malik Nazar, Technical Advisor, and Nawas, Umpires’ Coordinator.
Al Farabi congratulated both the finalists and extended his heartiest wishes to the winners. He also expressed hopes that others teams who could not make it to the final would try harder and perform better to qualify for the final next year.
On behalf of the QCA President, MA Shahid, Ahmad expressed the gratitude to the Qatar Airways, its CEO Akbar Al Baker and Al Farabi for the continued support to the sport. “We always strive to do our best to promote the game each year. We hope that there would be much higher levels of competition among the teams and we would witness even more thrilling matches.”
The Peninsula
