Hosts Pakistan emerged world champions by overpowering West Indies by 152 runs in the final of the inaugural MCW Over-40s Cricket Global Cup at National Bank Stadium, while United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the Plate final against Hong Kong by 92 runs at Moin Khan Academy.
Misbah-ul-Haq’s fluent century enabled Pakistan to post an imposing total of 328-4 in the allotted 45 overs, which they defended quite comfortably by bowling their opponents out for 176 in 38.5 overs with spinner Abdul Qadir picking up 6-35.
Abdul Razzaq chose to bat first after beating rival skipper Narsingh Deonarine in the spin of coin.
The West Indians did a fabulous job by containing the Pakistani openers, Abdul Razzaq and Amjad Ali, who had massacred the Australian bowlers in the semi-final at the same venue.
Pakistan, in fact, was in a spot of bother when both Razzaq (38 off 58 balls) and Amjad (28 off 28 balls) perished in quick succession after a quiet start.
Misbah added 173 for third wicket with Hassan Raza, who made 68 off 64 balls. Misbah departed after scoring 106 off 93 balls with the help of seven sixes and six fours.
The cameo from Tassawar Abbas, who finished unbeaten on 58 off only 21 balls allowed the home side to collect nearly 100 runs from the last seven overs which lifted the total into mammoth proportions. Former Test leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo (2-50) was the pick of the West Indian bowlers.
West Indies began the chase of 329 in a confident manner with openers Randy Thomas (37 off 51 balls) and Devindra Maharaj (17 off 34 balls) seeing off new ball operators, Muhammad Sami and Imran Ali, during their 57-run partnership.
The introduction of spin, as expected, brought about their downfall and the sensational spell of Abdul Qadir, yielding six wickets, sealed the fate of the match.
Lawrence Farnum (41 off 54 balls) and Sanjeev Gooljar (28 off 37 balls) delayed the inevitable for a while by adding 65 for eighth wicket, but Hassan Raza took the last three wickets in quick time to close the deal.
Meanwhile UAE, who didn’t qualify for the semi-finals, had the consolation of becoming the Plate champions by overcoming Hong Kong by 92 runs at Moin Khan Academy late on Sunday evening.
Batting first, after calling correctly, UAE did well to reach a competitive total of 241 before being dismissed in the final over.
Opener Sarfaraz Khan (62 off 45 balls) batted brilliantly with Basit Feyzee (49 off 67 balls) and Naeem Khan (39 off 38 balls) also contributing substantially as medium-pacer Shelton Joseph (4-33) and off-spinner Ankur Vasishta (3-52) bowled superbly for Hong Kong.
The target of 242 in 45 overs didn’t look out of reach of Hong Kong, but they lost the plot against the UAE spinners as the quartet of Rehan Khan (4-34), Narayan Krishnan (2-21), Naeem Khan (2-22) and Biju Kumar (1-20) shared eight wickets between them.
Coming in to bat number four, Rahul Sambhus remained undefeated on 54 off 65 balls but it was not enough to change the complexion of the game.
Hong Kong succumbed to 149 all out in the 33rd over to lose the match by a wide margin. Leg-spinner Rehan, for his four-wicket haul, won the Man-of-the-Match award. (Over40sglobalcup)
