Oct 8th 2022 makes a remarkable change to the Qatar Women’s Cricket. Qatar as a country that is progressing and emphasizing the rights of women and Women’s empowerment, Qatar Cricket Association’s President Sheikh ABDULAZIZ BIN SAOUD AL THANI, and board members take the first step towards the vision of Qatar women’s empowerment by hosting a wonderful tournament.
“This tournament was one of a kind where the teams were given the opportunity to choose their coaches and team managers. The players were given the freedom to express and showcase their talent which they are best at which made them bond and work as a unit.” said the tournament director Christopher Raja while thanking all the teams, umpires, match managers, support staff, and groundsmen for their efforts during the entire tournament.
The Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2017 and since 1999 are an affiliate member. With women’s cricket now booming at a quick pace, Qatar too has joined in to promote the game and open opportunities for women to take the field.
The QCA has responded to the rapidly growing women’s cricket industry by launching a domestic T20 league named, ‘Qatar Professional League (QPL) – QCA’s Women’s T20 League’ that featured 8 teams playing in two different groups. In a historic first, the key highlight of the event was that all matches were live-streamed for free on the Qatar Cricket Association’s YouTube channel. The step by QCA was opted to create awareness and promote cricket among the various communities in Qatar.
The teams for the tournament that got underway on the 9th of September were named after the cities symbolizing the rich heritage and culture of Qatar and a team consisted of 16 players each. The teams in group 1 consisted of Al Bidda Knights, Al Saad Strikers, Lusail Lioness and Wakra Challengers and the teams in group 2 consisted of Doha Rangers, Al khor Avengers, Salwa Supernovas and Abu Hamour Hurricanes.
Here’s a quick summary of the overall performers in the league:
Top 5 Run-getter :
The tournament saw Lusail Lioness’ 16-year-old, Saachi Dhadwal with the most, 267 runs off 5 innings at a strike rate of 119.73 that included a couple of centuries with the highest score of 113. Wakra Challengers’ Aysha Mohammed was next on the list who in 5 innings scored 246 runs at a strike rate of 128.80 and had the highest score of 94 against her name. Aleena Khan with 206 runs, Shruti Kamleshbhai Rana with 165 runs and Nilu Mendis with 123 runs were next on constituting the top 5 run-getters.
Top 5 wicket-takers :
The tournament had off-spinner, Khadija Imtiaz, with the most, 9 wickets to her name off 5 innings as she in 14.5 overs conceded 111 runs and delivered her spell at an economy rate of 7.48. Rochelle Sherlene Quyn off her 3 overs bagged 7 wickets at an economy rate of 9.3 and had Nilu Mendis next on with the same number of wickets (7), but off 5 innings and at an economy rate of 6.12. Aleena Khan off her 5 overs bagged 6 wickets at an economy rate of 4.95 and Lavanya Pillai with 6 wickets off 5 innings at an economy rate of 8.84 followed to close out the top 5 in the bowlers’ category.
Final: Al Bida Knights vs Al Sadd Strikers
The final was played between Al Bida Knights and Al Sadd Strikers on the 8th of October that had the former batting first had a poor outing and the opener, Aleena Khan’s 23 proved to be the highest as the rest in the line-up departed for single-digit scores and a handy bonus of 19 extras pushed Al Bida Knights to a total of 61. Strikers had Nilu Mendis top the wickets chart with figures of 4-1-8-3 and equally good spells were produced from the rest of the side’s bowling unit.
Al Sadd Strikers in reply chasing a low total of 61 lost Shruti Kamleshbhai Rana early on the score of 2(4) and opener Shereen Nawab then was partnered by Angeline Mare for a 45-run stand that came to an end with the wicket of Angeline on 19(33) with Strikers total on 47. Opener Shereen and Nilu Mendis closed the game out for the side in 14.2 overs of play remaining unbeaten on respective scores of 17(33) and 8(12). Al Saad Strikers comfortably with 8 wickets in hand clinched the finals.
Watch Finals of Champions of QCA’s Women’s T20 League
We (Female Cricket) would like to congratulate Qatar Cricket Association on successfully completing this tournament and ensuring more females are given a chance to show their talents.
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