Turning the tables around, the women in the Middle East have finally got their chance to play a T20 League that constitutes 4 teams and would be played over a period of 5 days.
It hasn’t been quite long since I wrote how these women break through obstacles of temperature and non-availability of proper grounds to pursue their dreams ! They’ve been classic examples of people who know there is no substitute for hard work and fighting back. Fighting against all odds, they’ve proved to the world that “Impossible” also implies “I’m possible”!
An important tournament for the ladies out there, this would prove to be one of the major tools to chalk out the team for their upcoming tournaments like T20 Smash and T20 Asia Qualifiers. And so, with living their dream, it has its own share of fun, experience and pressure.
The teams that would be part of the tournament are – Abu Dhabi led by Chamani Senevirathne, Ajman led by Esha Oza, Dubai led by Subha Srinivasan and Sharjah led by the UAE captain Humaira Tasneem.
With all the 4 teams balanced with experience and beginners, the tournament kick started on 28th November, 2018. v
Led by Senevirathne, Abu Dhabi clinched their first win of the tournament defeating their neighbour Dubai.
Women’s Cricket in Middle East – Fighting threats and 45 degree heat
The second game came off as a flyer for Ajman as they managed to cross the line defeating the Humaira led Sharjah by 10 wickets.
Two in two for both Abu Dhabi and Ajman, the former won their game against Sharjah by 36 runs where the latter managed to pull it off against Dubai by 10 wickets yet again!
The last leg of the tournament saw Sharjah coming up with their first win of the tournament, convincingly defeating Dubai by 54 runs! However, the finalists were almost confirmed with Abu Dhabi and Ajman winning 2 out of 2 games that they played. A thrilling win indeed, with Ajman managing to lift the trophy by defeating Abu Dhabi by 10 wickets. Captain Esha and Kavisha opened with a 140 run stand and made sure their team crosses the line. Ajman defeated their opponents by 10 wickets in all the games that they played and with that wrapped the tournament that came off as a big boost for almost all the players part of the same! The tournament ended with Ajman as table toppers winning all the games that they played followed by Abu Dhabi who won 3 out of the 4 they followed, coming up third was Sharjah who won only 1 out of the 3 they played and last being Dubai who managed to cross the line in none of the matches that they played.
UAE cricket has been phenomenal with its decision to give the women their chance of moving a step closer to their goals. Where the experienced can get their game going stronger, the beginners can learn from the experience and mould themselves better. Having a long way to go, the UAE women have finally had it their way and with sunshine on their mind they know this is just the beginning of a beautiful journey of challenges and opportunities that lies ahead of them!