A BARCA MASTERCLASS

Prior to Barcelona's 3-1 masterclass over Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley on Saturday, a die-hard Barca friend of mine said that he expected me to write an analysis of the match 'after we take the cup.' He said the words magnificent, splendid, magic, and awe should feature in it. Well, here it is!

Sir Alex Ferguson stood in awe on the sideline as his team capitulated spectacularly on Saturday evening. "In my time as manager it's the best team we have ever faced," Fergie would say later on. "No one has ever given us a hiding like that."

Indeed, such wizardry on a football field was previously unheard of. Xavi controlled his team in magnificent fashion, acting like the axis on a wheel around which all revolves.

Lionel Messi. One runs out of adjectives to describe the class of the man. To say he was splendid on Saturday night would not do him justice. His scorching curler to give Barca the lead was a goal from heaven, and will stay in the memories of Barca fans for some time to come.

Just for good measure, David Villa produced a moment of magic to put the seal on Barcelona's fourth Champions League triumph.

As Steve McLaren later said, "That was an education for Man Utd."

JAFFERY COME FROM BEHIND TO STEAL WIN OVER JAWADRI

Jaffery Cricket Club 180 – 6 (25/25 overs) beat Jawadri Cricket Club 172- 9 (25/25 overs) by 9 runs

JAFFERY COME FROM BEHIND TO STEAL WIN OVER JAWADRI

Muhammad Mazher and Ammar Suleman star in tense win at The Sevens

20 May, 2011

Dubai, The Jaffery Cricket Club recorded a tight victory against the Jawadri Cricket Club on a sweltering Friday morning at The Sevens cricket ground.

After winning the toss and electing to bat on a track that had a tinge of green on it, Jaffery skipper Ali Mombasa opened the innings with Zuhair Hemraj.

Hemraj (10) got things underway with a cut for four to point as he and Mombasa ran hard between the wickets to get Jaffery off to a steady start.

But Hemraj soon left the scene when he was bowled in the sixth over by leg-spinner Harris trying to drive. Muhammad Mazher (54) walked in at one down and kept the scoreboard ticking with risk-free strokeplay. It was the start of a perfectly paced innings from Mazher.

Mombasa (12) joined Zuhair in the hut not long after, top-edging a pull to keeper Zeeshan.

Johar met Mazher in the middle and got off the mark first ball with a stylish cut to the cover fence. Him and Mazher steadily upped the run-rate as Jaffery brought up their hundred in the fourteenth over.

With the platform set for a big total, the innings took a hiccup when Johar (27) edged behind the wicket. Qamar (15) hit a couple of boundaries before having his leg-stump disturbed by a googly, while MAK (13) spooned an easy catch to cover.

But Mazher was unperturbed by the wickets falling at the other end and carried on with aplomb. With Mohamed Suleman (18*) for company, Mazher fought an unforgiving Dubai sun and dehydration to bring up his fifty with a majestic strike down the ground for six.

“I think Muhammad Mazhar batted very well,” said Jaffery captain Ali Mombasa. “He battled through the heat and pushed us to a good total.”

Although Mazher was stumped for 54 soon after, a cameo at the end from Suleman took the Jaffery boys to 180 at the end of their 25 overs.

With the mercury kissing 40 degrees Celsius, the Jaffery boys took the field, knowing they had a fair amount of runs on the board to defend.

But the Jawadri opening batsmen didn’t seem to see the logic of running between the wickets in this heat. Left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman Zeeshan (39) slapped the first ball of the innings from Syed Haidar Shah to midwicket for four. The first over ended with 15 runs already on the board.

His right-handed opening partner Abrar (61) was in a hurry as well, punishing some ordinary bowling. The Jaffery boys seemed to be melting under the heat as they dropped Zeeshan twice, and Abrar once.

The old saying of ‘catches win matches’ must have been ringing in their heads as Zeeshan and Abrar made use of their lives and pulverised the bowling to all parts.

At the end of 11 overs, Jawadri had raced to 110 for no loss and seemed on track for an easy victory.

But that was before the Jaffery spinners entered the fray.

“Ammar and Muhammad Mazhar brought us back into the game when the chips were down,” said captain Ali Mombasa.

Ammar Suleman was introduced in the twelfth over and had Zeeshan plumb in front off his first ball. He was certain he had the next man in leg before as well, but the umpire thought otherwise.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Mazher kept things tight at the other end. He varied his pace beautifully and choked the flow of runs to a mere trickle.

Ammar then had Abrar caught at mid-wicket and suddenly, the Jaffery boys were back in the game. Mazher picked up a wicket off his last over, getting the hard-hitting Naeem (14) caught at deep square-leg by Johar.

Ammar finished off his spell by dismissing Mobeen (7), caught at cover. The off-spinner ending with three wickets in his five overs.

Ali Mombasa chipped in with a couple of key wickets as well with his part time off-spin. He shed his keeping pads and gloves to come on and bowl and delivered with a pair of crucial scalps.

MAK came on to bowl with a handful of overs remaining in the innings and kept up the preassure created by the spinners.

With Jawadri needing 19 runs off two overs, he had Syeed (22) caught at long-on by Mohamed Suleman and bowled Abid (5) with a skidder.

A dozen runs to get off the final over with just the lone wicket in hand was never going to be easy, and MAK ensured there would be no more twists in this game with a disciplined final over.

Jawadri finishing on 172 at the end of their innings - 9 runs short of their target.

Jaffery skipper Ali Mombasa was delighted with the win, and praised his team for a solid performance. “The boys followed instructions and played as per plan,” he said. “I am very proud to be leading such a young, enthusiastic, and dedicated bunch of boys.”

With the final session of the season coming up this Friday, things are looking bright for the Jaffery Cricket Club and the only way from here is surely up.

BLUES TOO GOOD FOR LISTLESS REDS AT THE SEVENS

Jaffery Blues 234 – 5 (25/25 overs) beat Jaffery Reds 183 all out (24.2/25 overs) by 51 runs

BLUES TOO GOOD FOR LISTLESS REDS AT THE SEVENS

Johar stars with the bat as Blues put on strong all-round performance to ensure easy victory over Ali Mombasa’s Reds

May 13, 2011

Dubai, With electric poles at fine-leg a thing of the past, the Jaffery cricket team played a 25 overs a side internal match at the state of the art Sevens ground on Friday evening.

The players sported black armbands in memory of Mehdi Raza Bhojani, who passed away earlier in the day.

Blues skipper Abul Qasim Baksh won the toss and elected to bat on a sluggish wicket which offered unpredictable bounce.

The Reds opening bowlers Maisam Raza and Mohamed Suleman were woefully wayward as they sprayed the ball on both sides of the wicket. Blues openers Johar (62) and Murtaza Khimjee (15) feasted on the loose bowling, plundering 17 runs off Mohamed Suleman’s second over.

The Reds finally broke the opening partnership when Azhar Esmail came on to bowl and had Murtaza Khimjee’s off stump pegged back with a sharp off-cutter.

Murtaza Mazher (20) joined Johar at the crease and hung around for a while before perishing attempting an agricultural hoick to cow corner off Mujtaba Khimjee, and getting bowled in the process.

Building off a strong start, Muntazir (17) was next in and he knocked the ball around until Kazim Suleman uprooted his leg stump with a quick leg cutter.

Meanwhile, Johar continued unperturbed at the other end, hitting the ball cleanly to the fence and running hard between the wickets. He brought up his half-century with a slog-sweep for four.

With Johar looking good for more, it would take something special to get rid of him, and a moment of brilliance from the Reds Muhammad Mazher came up with just that.

Play of the day

When Johar smashed a Mujtaba Khimjee length ball towards the long-on boundary, he must have thought it was half a dozen for all money.

But Muhammad Mazher had other ideas in mind. He covered good ground to reach the ball, and timed his jump to perfection to take a superb catch well over his head. But the momentum of taking the catch was pulling him over the boundary.

Showing superb anticipation and presence of mind, Mazher tossed the ball back into play, regained his balance, leapt back inside the ropes like a cat on catnip, and snatched the ball with both hands inches from the ground.

It was a catch reminiscent of David Hussey’s stunner against the Delhi Darevedevils in last years IPL and Doug Bollinger’s grab versus Rajastan.

Abul Qasim (16) came in next and was given an early life when Mujtaba Khimjee dropped a straight forward chance in the deep. The spill did not cost much though as Muhammad Ali Khan had Abul bowled an over later.

A quickfire 44 from the well built Qamar which included five monstrous sixes took the Blues to a commanding 234 for the loss of five wickets at the end of their allotted 25 overs.

“The way they started it looked as if they would reach 300 with ease,” said the disappointed Reds skipper Ali Mombasa. “We lacked discipline with the ball early on and paid the price for some ordinary bowling.”

With the daunting task of scoring nearly nine runs an over from the start, the Blues opened the batting with Kazim Suleman and Mujtaba Khimjee. Khimjee (17), dropped on one by Muntazir, got things underway with a couple of glorious sixes over long-off.

But the stylish right hander from Nairobi couldn’t make the most of his start when he feathered a rising ball from Abul Qasim to keeper Murtaza Khimjee. Kazim Suleman departed soon after as well, middling a pull to Mujtaba Sultanali at short midwicket off the bowling of Syed Haidar Shah.

From then on, it was all downhill for the Reds. Muhammad Mazher’s (16) promising stay at the crease was cut short by a bowl that kept devilishly low from Mujtaba Sultanali, and Azhar Esmail was trapped LBW first bowl by the same bowler.

The left-handed Rizwan Kanji crawled to 24 before being adjudged leg before off the slippery off-spin of Ammar Suleman, while Ali Mombasa missed a straight ball from Hasanain Khimjee and was bowled for a duck.

The rest of the Reds, barring Muhammad Ali Khan who top-scored for his team with an entertaining 30, succumbed to spin on a crumbling track as their target of 234 proved too lofty a mountain to climb. They managed to reach a respectable 183 all out, 51 runs short of the Blues score.

Towards the end of the Reds inning, Blues wicketkeeper Murtaza Khimjee made a strong case for wearing a helmet whilst keeping wickets. He sustained a nasty blow above his left eye when the ball, en-route to him from the deep, took a bad bounce and hit him flush on the face. Despite the bloody scenes in the middle, Khimjee seemed alright and walked off the ground unassisted.

All in all, it was a top performance from the men in Blue, who thoroughly deserved their victory.