Week 7: Report

𝐇𝐢𝐭 𝐧 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐯𝐬 𝟔 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐳

Azahat Saleem opened the batting for Hit n Run and showed glimpses of his raw talent, belting the ball to all corners of the ground and giving the team an aggressive start. The previous encounter was still lingering upon the minds of Hit n Run as they attempted to redeem themselves as the best batting side in the league. 6 Shotterz dismissed the opening batsman in quick succession and turned the tables. This led to the arrival of their key batsman, walking in his unique humble manner to the crease, observing the field set and calculating his shot selection; this was none other than Hamzah Hussain. He would go on to high-score for his team for the third consecutive time and provide some hope of resistance as no one else could counter the surgical bowling attack of 6 Shotterz. The array of shots and ecstasy of the ball flowing of the bat of Hamzah Hussain came to a sudden halt as Azeem utilised his athletic physical capabilities to dive forth and take a brilliant catch. The earth had truly shaken. 6 Shotterz thoroughly pleased the eyes of the perfectionists as they all claimed one wicket each with remarkable economy rates and left no doubt that they are the best bowling attack in the league.

6 Shotterz have relied upon one special individual to guide them towards victory in the previous 2 games and this game was no different. The talented Mauzam Khatana (brother of Muneeb Khatana) batted with supreme concentration, focus and an undying will to be there till the end. Combining his unique batting stance, which at times appears to replicate the famous movie character from Lagaan (refer to picture displayed below), helped him to blunt Hit n Run’s bowling attack. However, a quick fall of wickets, mainly due to miscommunication, left the 6 Shotterz in a dire situation. Another heroic effort was required from Shadab Ahmed to help the team cross the line and achieve a remarkable victory.

𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐯𝐬 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧

On the fourth ball of the first innings, Arsalan Khalid edged the ball through to the keeper and did not even wait for the umpires call as he walked back to the pavilion. The main treat of the day was yet to come. Yograj Kote Patil and Yousaf Ali put together one of the finest innings of the league as they thrashed the ball down the ground for successive boundaries against Adnan Muhammad and placed immense pressure on Molvi Sixers. Yousaf Ali raced towards 25 whilst belting 3 spectacular boundaries and his partner Yograj Kote Patil topped the table with an even more impressive strike rate of 103. However, their retirements would be their own undoing as Molvi Sixers tightened the fielding and gave away no extras. This resulted in the run rate declining and Knights Watchmen ending up with a modest total of 74/6.

Knights Watchmen won the toss and elected to bowl. Kazam Hussain bowled a beautiful in-swinging Yorker to remove the captain and left the batting ordered exposed. Haroon Tariq stood up to this challenge and played an extraordinary innings where he anchored the batting order and provided much-needed stability for his team. It is said that during these crunch moments of severe pressure and difficulty, great players rise to the challenge; Zobair Khaliq and Haroon Tariq proved to be those individuals. Knights Watchmen struggled against the prowess’s displayed by Zobair Khaliq as he speared the attack with a remarkable strike rate of 119. Saman Khan played an important cameo at the end of the innings to take the team over the line. The bowling attack of Knights Watchmen fared much better than their previous encounter, as their main bowlers Yousaf Ali, Muneeb Khatana, and Yograj bowled with far better economy rates.

𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬

A thrilling encounter between two teams seeking a chance in the qualifying round. Batsman and Robin could not replicate their heroic performance from last week as they tumbled to a low total of 48-5. They played with one less batsman but still battled through the overs and provided something for their bowlers. Jamil Ali high scored with 17 runs and played a captain’s knock, however, some questioned his late arrival to the crease as he would have had more balls to face if he appeared higher up the order. Afzal Mohammed bowled a brilliant spell where he was able to pick up two important scalps; he was supported with equally good performances from his team members Shahid Mohammed and Moniruzzaman Choudhury. 
Impressive performances from Shahid Mohammed (including a glorious six straight down the ground) and Moniruzzaman Choudhury, who played a defiant knock to take the team towards victory, would allow Darnall Dynamites to have a much better chance of joining the knockout stages and the spectators hope to see similar performances in the near future.