By M. Ayazuddin Irfan
JEDDAH — Lothers CC defeated Indomie Dragons in a thrilling final to emerge champions of the IDB Super League 2017 here recently
Indomie Dragons after winning the toss and electing to bat first lost three quick wickets of Bilal, Mouzzam Amjad Jutt and Mazher Abbasi for just 34 runs due to superb opening bowling by Mohammed Asif (2-31) and Shahroze (2-23). Shams Meher, Man of the Match of the semifinal, scored 16 off 10 balls but was unlucky to get out by a superb catch by Samiullah at the mid-wicket. Bilal Kayani, batting at No. 6 fought a lone battle for his team and was instrumental in getting a descent target of 138-7 in 12 overs. He was out on 31 off 30 balls with 3 sixes. The other batsman who batted sensibly was Aftab who remained unbeaten on 29 off just 13 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes. He was well supported in the end by Ali who also remained unbeaten on 14 off just 4 balls with 2 sixes.
Lothers, chasing 139, had a shaky start when Ahmed Rizvi was out on the third ball of the first over. Abdul Wahid, batting at No. 3, started well but could not consolidate the innings as he was out caught brilliantly by Bilal on 14. Then Asif, Waqas Ali and Shahroze made a precession, leaving their team stranded at 63-5. But Samiullah, coming in at No. 6, destroyed the hopes of Indomie Dragons with his explosive batting. He remained unbeaten 57 off 23 balls with a boundary and 8 sixes as he single handedly took Lothers to a thrilling victory by 5 wickets. He was adjudged the Man of the Final for his brilliant match-winning innings.
The final was witnessed by a big crowd and it was graced by the chief guest Deputy Consul General of the United Kingdom, Kabir Rahman. Other prominent guests included Essam Noor Fadel Al-Shanqiti (IDB govt. relations protocol manager), Martin Copus (head of marketing, Abdul Latif Jameel Co.), Faisal (regional manager, Sabre), Shouhdy Shehrein (regional sales manager, Sabre), Mohammed Imran (reservation manager, Qatar Airways), Ibadurrahman (key accounts manager, Qatar Airways), Satish (Fly Dubai), Daniyal (reservation manager, Etihad Airways) and Jamal (Saudi Gulf Airlnes).
Martin Copus presented the Champions Trophy to Lothers captain Abdul Wahid. Faisal and Shouhdy Shehrein presented the runner-up Trophy to Indomie Dragons captain Mazher Abbasi.
Awards were presented to: Samiullah Khan (Lothers) — Man of the Final; Mazher (IDB) — Player of the Tournament; Humayun (Pepsi Alliance) — Best Batsman; Aftab (Indomie Dragons) — Best Bowler; Abdul Wahid (Lothers) — Best Wicketkeeper; Ali Abbas (Lothers) — Best Fielder and Mazher Abbasi (Indomie Dragons) — Best Catch.
