Mumineen Vs. Alliance @ Southridge 2

With Mumineen already clinching their spot into the finals, their final task was to try and go undefeated for the season. Toss was won by Alliance and they decided to have a bat first. Another dream start was stored for Mumineen when Quadir clean bowled Alliance opener, Wazim Baksh, from the first ball of the game. After the first over, it was all Alliance from there. A solid partnership was formed with Inshan and former Viper player, Asif Zid. Asif was dropped in the 3rd over on 10 runs, by Mumineen's own, Aseef. This lead to Alliance really taking off with the score. Inshan was out after the 9th over. At this point, Alliance were already in their 80s halfway through their ininnings. With only 2 wickets gone, Saffie came in and had a excellent partnership with Asif as Saffie picked off the bad deliveries and chipped around singles. Asif continued striking the ball well with powerful drives and reverse shots that carried towards the boundary. With 6 overs remaining, Alliance had plenty of wickets in hand, and had the dangerous Asif settled in. Their score was in the 130s and were looking for a massive total of possibly 170-180. Mumineen had different thoughts though. In Hazo's last over, thats when the momentum shifted towards the Mumineen side. A run-out took place, another batsman was bowled and the big batsman, Asif, was caught by Shaheed. Aseef and Quadir bowled very tight in the end holding Alliance down to 157.

Mumineen came in knowing they had to chase a massive target of 158 to win. The outfield is fast and they knew that going about 8 runs an over is possible. Hazo and last week's hero, Faran, went in to open the batting for Mumineen. Tarif opened the bowling for Alliance and kept the ball low as usual. Mumineen had to pick up the ball and play shots in order for them to get through and that is exactly what they did. Mumineen had an excellent start with 27 runs coming from the first 2 overs. Hazo and Faran had an important partnership through their ininnings until Faran was caught. A 58 run stand was broken up after 7 overs, then the following delivery, Hazo was out caught for 26. This was a big wicket for Alliance realizing 2 settled batsmen were out and 2 fresh ones were in. Udesh and Aseef were the 2 new batsmen. They pushed singles and got boundaries when they needed to. Alliance captain, Arman Ally, came into the attack and bowled 2 tight overs, which pinned down Mumineen and raised the required rate to 9 with 7 overs remaining. Mumineen gave Aseef and Udesh the bad news and told them to have a go at the ball. Wazim Baksh came in to bowl an over, but Aseef and Udesh had to answer to their call, and they did with a cameo. Aseef let out thunder with his bat hit 646 with the first 3 deliveries in the over. A leg bye was given then a dot ball. With the last delivery in the over, Udesh hit a monster shot over deep square. 23 runs came off that one over and dropped the required run-rate to 7. Udesh was eventually caught out 2 overs later with Mumineen chasing their target steadily. Mumineen skipper Shaheed was sent in. The next over, Aseef hit a bullet to long off, but a great catch by Tarif sent the vice-captin out for a well played 38. This was a huge wicket for Alliance knowing that Shaheed was the last recognized batsman left for Mumineen and they were smelling victory. Omar was the new batsman in. With 4 overs remaining and Mumineen needing 28 runs to win, Asif Zid dropped a catch that was hit straight into his hands from Shaheed. This was the beginning of the end. Shaheed hit a 6 a few balls later in that over. Mumineen needed 20 runs from 18 deliveries to win. Omar and Shaheed pushed and ran for singles through the next over. The target now was 14 from 12. Tarif bowled the 19th over and bowled it very well...in the begininng. 11 runs was needed from 7 deliveries and with the last delivery in Tarif's over, Shaheed hit a massive six over deep cover. Asif, who was Alliance's best bowler in the game, was saved for the last over. With 5 runs available and 4 wickets in hand, Mumineen ran just about everything and took the score to 157 with one ball remaining. Omar was on strike and the final delivery was brushed off his leg and Mumineen took the winning run. Shaheed was Not Out with a great knock of 23 and Omar was Not Out with an important 7. This was the greatest win up-to-date in the Mumineen record books. A real team effort chasing a massive target of 158 and winning it will boost the confidence of their team. Their next match will be next week facing Alliance again in a friendly match, with both teams getting a bye before the semi-finals. The week after, Unity will square off against Alliance to determine who will get the final spot in the finals against Mumineen.