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When Malo came to the ground today, they knew that they had to win against 3 different opponents in order to lay their hands on the trophy. They have defeated 2 teams. But will they be able to clinch the trophy in the finale? We will find out here. Our coverage will begin at about 10:30pm IST. Do tune in. This is Darpan Tikiya signing off from this window on the behalf of my co-commentator Bidipto Dutta.
Malo win by 8 wickets and qualify for the finals of ECS Portugal 2024.
Most of us wanted Malo to bat well and give us a good second innings. They went a few extra miles and chased the target down with 10 balls to spare. Who saw that coming?
But well, I suppose there is not much you can do when a power hitter like Najam Shazad gets going. He put his brute force on an exhibition as he kept launching the ball out of the park again and again. With every other shot of his, the shoulders of the Oeiras fielders kept dropping.
Shahzad shined so brightly at one end that Amir Zaib's gem of an innings at the other almost went unnoticed. He smashed 4 fours and 5 sixes on his way to a 14-ball-54.
You can't help but feel for Oeiras. They were undefeated through the group stage. Yes, they did stutter in the Super Fives but came back well to secure a top two spot. Yet, such is the format that one bad game is enough to show you the door out. We thank them for the amazing cricket they have put on display all throughout ECS Portugal 2024 as we bid them adieu.
8.2 Junaid Khan to Amir Zaib, MALO QALANDARS FINISH IT OFF IN STYLE WITH A BOUNDARY! THEY JOIN GAMBLERS SC NOW IN THE FINAL! Good length ball around off-stump. Patted down to the gap between short third man and backward point off the back foot for a boundary!
Amidst the power-hitting from Shahzad, we have almost not noticed this perfect support knock from Zaib. A brilliant 50 in just - wait for it - 14 balls.
8.1 Junaid Khan to Amir Zaib, SIX RUNS! Length ball around off-stump. Smashed away over long-off on the up for a maximum!
Can Junaid Khan [1-0-9-0] effect a miracle? He bowls now.
The game would go in to the next over. However, Malo can almost taste victory on their lips now.
8
overs
135/2score
6
4
4
0
0
0
runs
Najam Shahzad*
66(23)
Amir Zaib
44(12)
Brendan Bedenhorst
0/36
7.6 Brendan Badenhorst to Najam Shahzad, short outside off-stump. The swipe across the line on the back foot gets missed here! No run.
7.5 Brendan Badenhorst to Najam Shahzad, short and wide around off-stump. Najam leaves it alone on the back foot but it stays inside the tramline.
7.4 Brendan Badenhorst to Najam Shahzad, yorker on middle-stump. Dug out of the block hole back to the bowler here, no run.
They had the option to go to Junaid Khan or Francoise Stoman - both of whom have been very good at death in the series. But Greenshields took a different option and it isn't turning out to be the right one.
7.3 Brendan Badenhorst to Najam Shahzad, FOUR MORE! Good length ball on the pads. Whipped around to the long-leg fence on the back foot for another boundary!
7.2 Brendan Badenhorst to Najam Shahzad, FOUR RUNS! Good length ball around off-stump. Najam advances and thumps it to the left of the bowler for a powerful boundary!
7.1 Brendan Badenhorst to Najam Shahzad, SIX! Length ball around off-stump. Hoisted away well over deep square-leg from deep in the crease for a maximum!
Brendan Badenhorst [1-0-22-0] is back.
It has been Najam Shahzad's knock of the tournament. He has arrived with some panache and at the right time for Malo. They can now see the finish line as a result of this innings from Shahzad.
7
overs
121/2score
6
1
1
4
6
1
runs
Najam Shahzad*
52(17)
Amir Zaib
44(12)
Taj Muhammad
0/28
6.6 Taj Muhammad to Najam Shahzad, full on middle-and-leg. Knocked down to the long-on region on the front foot for a single to keep strike.
6.5 Taj Muhammad to Najam Shahzad, SIX MORE! Good length ball at the pads. Clipped away well over deep backward square-leg for a maximum! 50 for Najam!
Miguel Stoman was stationed at deep midwicket and Junaid Khan at deep square leg. They both converged on the ball. Miguel dived and caused a deviation away from Junaid. It is four eventually.
6.4 Taj Muhammad to Najam Shahzad, OH WELL! FOUR RUNS! Full on the pads. Flicked over the in-field but a bit of a messy fielding effort at deep mid-wicket gives the batter a boundary!