A final is all about holding your nerve. And Dubai Mammoths showed it in ample measure. They came up with a clinical performance against Mavericks CC in the final of the Dubai Cricket Council's Ramadan League which was played at the Sevens Cricket grounds on Wednesday night.
Mavericks won the toss but were restricted to 147 for 8 by some tidy bowling from Sameer A Khan (2-20), man of the match Ambey Parwatkar (2-20) and Shiva Pagarani (2-28).
Dubai Mammoths stuttered in their chase before Shadab Khan (45), Qais Farooq (38) and Abid Chaudhury (27 not out) steered their team home in 21 overs.
Dubai Mammoths bowlers were ripped apart in their previous match against Mideast Metals so it came as no surprise when Mavericks won the toss and elected to bat.
But the plot took a twist as their batsmen, barring Gifsun D'Souza (56) at the top and No. 8 batsman Victor D'Souza (32), struggled to get into double figures.
Mammoths seemed to have done their homework as Sameer Khan did the damage with two wickets which was followed by Shiva who broke the middle-order backbone.
Gifsun looked unperturbed by wickets falling at the other end and went on to reach his half century before falling to Ajay Joshi who finished the tournament with 15 wickets from five matches to be adjudged the Player of the Tournament.
Dubai Mammoths' chase began on the wrong note with Nasir Hussain scalping Ranjeet Chavan, Lucky Abbas and Javed Siddique. And when Aslam Shahzad removed Ambey Parwatkar the match tilted in Mavericks' favour.
But they ran into prolific scorer Shadab Khan (45 from 31 balls, 3x6, 1x4) and Qais Farooq (38 from 44, 3x4) who together put on an invaluable 85-run partnership.
Both departed in quick succession and Mavericks thought they had the match and the trophy in their pocket. But run-machine Abid Chaudhury was still to bat and with the kind of form he is in, it was too early to bring the curtains down on Dubai Mammoths.
Abid proved once again that he is the go-to player in such situations as he blasted 27 from just 16 balls (5x4) to take Mammoths home with four overs to spare.
Brief scores (final)
Dubai Mammoths beat Mavericks CC by four wickets
Mavericks 147 for 8 in 25 overs (Gifsun D'Souza 56, Victor D'Souza 32; Sameer A Khan 2-30, Ambey Parwatkar 2-20, Shiva Pagarani 2-28, Ajay Joshi 1-42, Abid Chaudhury 1-23) Dubai Mammoths 150 for 6 in 21 overs (Shadab Khan 45, Qais Farooq 38, Abid Chaudhury 27 n.o.; Nasir Hussain 3-31, Aslam Shahzad 1-30). Man of the match: Ambey Parwatkar.
Other awards
Best batsman: Syed Haider of Mideast Metals (4 matches, 312 runs)
Best bowler: Ajay Joshi of Dubai Mammoths (5 matches, 15 wickets)
Player of the Tournament: Ali Anwar of Mideast Metals (5 matches, 225 runs and 9 wickets).

Source: .khaleej Times