Dammam: MASA Members Witness Fabulous Day of Cricket

Report: Victor Sequeira & Dinesh Shetty
Pics: Mohd Nooman

Dammam, Jun 2: MASA internal cricket tournament 2011 began in a grand way at Al Zamil Cricket ground near Raka here with the introduction of all the eight teams by president Ravi Karkera.

Vice-president Santosh Shetty explained the rules and regulations of the match to all the players.

A total of 10 teams participated in the tournament:

Four teams in under-35 age group:

Red Devils – captain: Preetam Chowta
Blue Runners – captain: Sunman Karkera
Black Cats – captain: Ajay Alva
Desert Flames – captain: Fayaz Saleh Aboobaker
 
Four teams in above-35 age group:

Hampatkatta Bulls – captain: Gopal Shetty
Mangalore Blues– captain: Madhav Amin
Royal Challengers Mangalore – captain: Dinesh Shetty
Namma Kudla Blues – captain: Dayanand Shriyan

Two teams under-16 age group:

Karavali Tuskers – captain: Roshan
Red Warriors – captain: Vineeth

The first match of the day for the above-35 group was won by Hampankatta Bulls by 54 runs against Mangalore Blues in ground number 1. The under-35 group match between Blue Runners and Red Devils was won by the former by 54 runs in ground number 2.

In the third match for above-35, Namma Kudla Blues fell short by 6 runs against Royal Challengers Mangalore. In the fourth match, Black Cats chased Desert Flames score of 82 runs with two overs remaining.

Among the under-16 teams, in the first round, Red Warriors beat Karavali Tuskers by 16 runs and in the second match Karavali Tuskers took revenge by outplaying Red Warriors by 33 runs.

Final matches under all age groups were played in the afternoon. Both finals of above-35 and under-35 categories were full of excitement till the last over. The magnificent victory by Blue Runners against Black Cats achieved with only two balls to spare had everyone biting their nails in anticipation.
Similarly, Hampankatta Bulls beat Royal Challengers Mangalore by just 10 runs. The absence of MASA active member and key player Nayaz Kaiser was noted during the play. Main highlight of the final match, under-35 was the great form of Santosh Shetty (Jr) who returned to the field after nursing an ankle injury for a period of seven months. It was amazing to watch four consecutive sixes off the first four balls he faced after seven months and a wicket in the first ball of his over. 

All the games were played with sportsman spirit in spite of the acute weather condition of 48 degree centigrade.

The sponsors of the day who contributed for the success of the event were Ravi Karkera, Santosh Shetty, Al Manama Trading and Transport, Madhav Amin, Inter Model Services, Eugine Lobo, Usman Hosangadi, Ahmed Gulam Beary, Dinesh Shetty and Group, Dayanand Shriyan and Prajapat Nivas.

The entire tournament was umpired by the very experienced officials of Dammam Cricket Association. The exciting moments were the marvellous sixes and fours hit by Santosh Shetty, Riyaz Ahmed, Hyder Ali and the under-16 category too. The fabulous non-stop commentary in Tulu, Kannada and English by Ibrahim Kader, Naveen Bhandary, Santosh Shetty, Narendra Shetty, Ravi Karkera and Gopal Shetty added flavour to the entertainment.

MASA acknowledges the valuable services of Sudarshan Sanil, Shiva, Kesav Bantwal, Anand, Moideen Sheikh. Odwel, Sheriff Karkala, Ahmed Gulam Beary, Jagjeevnram Karkera, Chandrasekar and Sukumar Shetty.
 
The award distribution ceremony was conducted at the end of the final match. The following awards were distributed:

Man of the Match (under-16) -  Prateek Poojary, Siddharth Krishnaraj
Man of the Match (under 35) - Santosh(Jr.), Sachine Hegde, Mohd K.P
Man of the Match (above-35) -  Ivan Pinto, Hyder Ali, Riyaz Ahmed

Best bowler of the tournament (under-16) -  PrateekPoojary (Karavali Tuskers)
Best bowler of the tournament (under-35) -  Ajay Alva (Black Cats)
Best bowler of the tournament (above 35) -  Sudhir Kalmady (Hampankatta Bulls)

Best batsman of the tournament (under-16) -  Sidharth Krisnaraj (Karavali Tuskers)
Best batsman of the tournament  (below-35) -  Santosh Shetty (Jr) (Blue runners)
Best batsman of the tournament (above 35) -  Riyaz Ahmed (Hampankatta Bulls)

Runners-up (under-35) -   Black Cats
Runners-up (above-35) -  Royal Challengers Mangalore

Winning team (under-35) -  Blue Runners
Winning team (above-35) - Hampankatta Bulls
 
 
The photo coverage of the whole event was handled by Mohd Nooman of media committee.

The grand event concluded by the vote of thanks to all sponsors, players and the spectators by the vice-president Santosh Shetty.