Ocean Fair lift 21st City Diamond Indian Independence Day Cup

DUBAI: Ocean Fair beat Anchor Marine by 26 runs to lift the 21th City Diamond Indian Independence Day Cup held at Ocean Fair Sports Club Grounds at DIP on Aug.12 (the second day of Eid).

Batting  first Ocean Fair made 84 for 2 in five overs with major contributions coming from Irfan Khan (30 retired) and Salman Randhwa (34 retired).

In reply, Anchor Marine managed only 58 all out in 4.1 overs. For Anchor Marine, Hasseb Afridi (19) and Rashid Bajwa (16) were the main scorers. Irfan with bowling figures of 2/8 was the most successful bowler for Ocean Fair.

For his notable contribitions with both bat and ball which ensured that Ocean Fair win the final, Irfan was adjudged man of the match.

All prizes were donated by Deepak Arora of City Diamond while the cricket tournament was organised by Senior UAE Umpire Tariq Butt, who has been organising this festival event for last 36 years in the region.

Earlier in the first semi-final, Anchor Marine defeated Asian Stars by two wickets. Batting first  Asian Stars made 59 for 3 in 5 overs. (Shehan Fernando 24; Shibu Kumar 1/9, Basit Ali 1/6). Chasing, Anchor Marine, reached the target for the loss of only three wickets. (Ahmed Shabir 24 n.o. Mohd Ilyas 22; M. Sunith  1/11).

In the second semis, Ocean Fair beat ANIB Bulls by 4 wickets. Batting first ANIB Bulls scored 55/1 for  in 5 overs. (Abishek, 35 n.o. Asif Hayat 12 n.o.; Freddy Sidhwa 1/6). Chasing, Ocean Fair scored 57 for 2 in 3.2 overs. (Hafeez Afrifi 23, Irfan Khan 21; Zainulabiden 1/13)