AUS cricketers win sixth Intercollegiate T20 Cricket Tournament

Organized by the Student Athletics and Recreation Department of the Office of Student Affairs, the sixth edition of the prestigious AUS Intercollegiate T20 Cricket Tournament concluded with another victory for the Leopards when they defeated arch rivals BITS Pilani, Dubai by seven wickets on April 7, 2014 at the AUS Cricket ground. The tournament was originally scheduled from March 20 - 26 but the final was shifted to April 7 due to the bad weather conditions.

The comeptition was played on knock-out basis with the participation of eight major universities from across the UAE. AUS met University of Wollongon in Dubai (UOWD) in the semifinal and restricted them to a score of 82 with Rehan Ali, Musaab Khalid, Muhammad Nasir, Mohsin Imran and Muhammad Aqdas sharing the wickets for AUS. In reply AUS batsman Rehan Ali (53) led the run chase and reached the target in 15 overs to reach the finals.

In the much awaited final, BITS Pilani Dubai scored 141 runs with some powerful batting in the allotted 20 overs. Mohsin Imran, Muhammad Nasir and Hussam Badi shared the wickets for the Leopards. AUS lost their opener Rehan Ali in the early overs but Umar Shaikh and Hammad Hussain steadied the innings with some spectacular batting display followed by Ahsan Aftab and Musaab Khalid to reach the target in the 17 over and claiming the trophy for AUS.

In the post-match ceremony, Dr. Mohamed Helal, Director of Student Athletics and Recreation Department, gave away trophies and medals to the winners. Umar Shaikh of AUS received the Man of the Match award while Nagarjuna Hegde and Manish Bansal from BITS Pilani Dubai were adjudged the best batsman and best bowler of the tournament respectively.

Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, thanked all the participants and congratulated the Leopards on their victory. She stressed the importance of such tournaments in building strong partnerships with other educational institutions. She also promised that AUS will take additional measures to encourage and develop sports among the students by facilitating more sports tournaments on campus.