Faiz Fazal slams 110, guides Irish club to victory

NAGPUR: A lot is expected from overseas professionals in the UK. Indian southpaw - Faiz Fazal - is consistently meeting expectations of his team and delivering in the challenging conditions in Northern Ireland.


On Saturday, the

Vidarbha

skipper produced an excellent century, his first of the season, to guide Lisburn Cricket Club to their

maiden victory

in the Robinson Services Premier League - 2021, top division league in the region.

Faiz (110; 126b, 6x4, 4x6) built his innings skilfully and helped his team record a 3-wicket victory over defending champions CIYMS at Wallace Park, Lisburn CC's home ground.

Lisburn CC approached this encounter on the back of a heavy defeat. A lot was depending on Faiz and he made sure that the earlier result was not repeated. The seasoned Indian cricketer led the way with a responsible knock and took his team to the cusp of victory. Faiz planned his innings well, took time early and found key partners in skipper Adam

Berry

(30) and Chris Burns (42).

Faiz hit 6 boundaries and 4 sixes, and shared stands of 77 runs with skipper Berry and 85 runs with Burns. In the process, he completed his century by guiding a spinner to midwicket region, which was celebrated by a large gathering of supporters at the home ground, according to the video posted by a Lisburn CC official on Twitter.

The gathering was witness to some sensational shots, with sixes over extra-cover, midwicket and straight down the ground from Faiz and Burns.

When Faiz got out, Lisburn were short of 37 off 6 overs. Stumper Jonathan Waite took the baton from Faiz and notched-up a quick 20 off 15. Later, the game was finished with a crackling boundary at long-off with six balls to spare.

BRIEF SCORES:

CIYMS 256 for 8 in 50 overs (J van der Merwe 74, C Dougherty 49; D Simpson 3-24, C Atkinson 2-72, F Fazal 1-43) lost to Lisburn CC 257 for 7 in 49 overs (Faiz Fazal 110, C Burns 42, A Berry 30; C Robinson 5-55) by 3 wickets