Super Daddy CC played OGS in a 22 over friendly encounter on Saturday 27th May at the SKBZ ground.
It was a blistering hot May afternoon, the mercury hitting nearly 40 degrees, humidity 100%. The daddies won the toss and chose to bat on a flat batting surface.The Daddies lost the mighty Shehryar Qadir early on and Yasser Mufti followed soon afterwards getting bowled to an in swinger from Omar Ghazi which uprooted Yasser's leg stump. Enter the undaunted Super Daddy warhorse Adeel Mansha who once again steadied the ship. Previous high scoring matches at SKBZ ensured that the administration used relatively softer balls in this match, not to mention a grassy outfield, so maximums were hard to come by. Adeel slogged through the heat to craft an amazing innings a run short of his fifty and bring daddies to a respectable total. He was supported wonderfully by Super Daddy skipper Shahram Rasool who looked in good touch, middling everything. Unfortunately, Shahram also middled a full toss off veteran Unfit Legend Moin Iqbal straight to Mohammad Arshad on the boundary. OGS bowled well, kept a tight line and with the ball getting softer and harder to hit, OGS did not allow the Daddies batsmen any huge overs. Once Shahram fell, wickets followed regularly, but not before most of the batsman contributed to the scorecard with veteran Rehan Sheikh adding 21 and Omar Shahid a quick fire 15 with 2 wonderful fours at an opportune time. Omar Ghazi and Mohd Malik ended with 2 wickets a piece and OGS would have been happy to restrict the Daddy batting lineup to a modest 156 in 22 overs.
The OGS innings could not have started off better with 49 off 5 overs as Daddies ace bowler Adnan Amjad went for 40 runs in 4 overs. However, Adnan's specialty of getting the best batsmen out came true again today as he snapped up the wickets of both in-form openers Jameel Akbar and Imran Shah. The stage was set for what turned out to be a fantastic match.
Highly experienced Khawaja Obaid and the ever crisp stroke play of Mohammad Arshad moved the scoreboard along edging closer to the modest target. With only 6-7 runs an over needed, OGS was firmly in the drivers seat. However, it took out of form Super Daddy Babar Mufti with his endless variety of spin to trap Arshad lbw. Saad Khamisani, improving with every game, was able to add some runs to the total before Babar was able to get him out as well. Rehan Sheikh (3 overs 18 runs) and Ali Mufti (3 overs 24 runs) kept things tidy at the other end ensuring that OGS never had a huge over to decide the match. Instead the OGS batsmen were content to chip away with singles and doubles. The ball would only get softer and maximums harder to come by as each over passed. Khawaja Obaid's firm resistance ended on 37 runs as he got run out to some quick fielding by Babar Mufti, and Zohaib Jawad, skipper of the Bubbers and solid batsman lost his wicket to a slower one by Shezad Mahar. The cricket professor Omar Ghazi kept OGS' hopes alive and played a solid knock, except for the 17 year old Super Daddy leg-spinner Saad (3 overs 19 runs 2 wickets) who bowled a crucial 2 wicket over to dismiss both Omar Ghazi and Abid Butt. Nerves were telling as Kumail got run out leaving OGS Skipper Tariq Bin Aijaz and Mohd Malik to get the remaining runs in 3 overs with one wicket in hand.
Babar Mufti topped off his match winning spell (3 overs 18 runs 2 wickets) giving only 5 runs in the 19th over leaving the final pair to get 16 off the final 2 overs with 1 wicket remaining. The Numbers 9 and 10 for OGS still solid bats. Still anyones game. It was yet another run out with Mohd Malik trapped in the middle of the pitch that sealed the deal and the Daddies defended a modest target in the end to complete the second win against OGS on a trot.
It was an excellent game of cricket played in good spirit….both teams friends on and off the field. Final result….Super Daddy CC beat OGS by 8 runs.
