Kuwait Cricket


	NBK RETAINS GULF BANK TROPHY Kiran Lobo awarded Man of the Match award

	Kuwait City,Mon.22 nd Feb.2010:The Twenty20 finals of the Gulf Bank Trophy sponsored by Gulf Bank was held at the lush green Entertainment City grounds on February 20, 2010. In the finals played between National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) and Burgan Bank, NBK galloped with a remarkable 8 wickets victory over Burgan and bagged the coveted Gulf Bank trophy. Burgan Bank won the toss, and opted to bat first into what looked like a batting friendly wicket. The skies were slightly overcast, but were to improve during the day. Anyway, once the game commenced, the NBK bowlers bowled magnificently well like a well oiled machine and tightened their grip through some remarkable fielding. Arthur was the only batsmen who withstood the NBK attack and top scored with 31 runs. Sufiyan who came late down the order chipped a useful 14 runs as Burgan Bank could only score 109 runs in the 20 th over. NBK bowlers Jalal & Mathew bowled well to take 2 wickets as five of the Burgan batsmen were run out by some smart fielding by NBK players.

	Curtis Sims handed over the winner’s trophy to NBK captain Andrew Pinho
	Chasing a modest total of 110 runs to win the match, NBK batsmen Kiran and Ronnie proceeded to play slightly on the defensive, going mainly for the ones and twos, and once they settled themselves, the duo played splendidly, clouting the ball over the field. Kiran Lobo who was later declared man of the match for his enterprising 57 not out along with Ronnie who remained unbeaten with 37 runs exhibited some lovely drives and pulls and entertained the crowd at the Kuwait Entertainment City cricket ground.

	Peter Sequeira, of Gulf bank, gave the runners up trophy to Burgan Bank captain Ejaz Ali
	Mr. Curtis Sims, Human Resources, Business Partner of Support Groups at Gulf Bank handed over the winner’s trophy to NBK captain Andrew Pinho. Mr. Curtis congratulated all the participating teams and specially the winners said that Gulf Bank which has been sponsoring the Bank league trophy for so many years were glad to sponsor the tournament as they supported the sports and well being of the players. He also highlighted the fact that though all the Bank’s are competitors in business, it is good that on the field the core values of sportsmanship, competitiveness and team spirit are effectively brought out . Mr. Peter Sequeira, Senior Manager, Facilities Management Division of Gulf bank, gave the runners up trophy to Burgan Bank captain Ejaz Ali while Mr. Rabindranath Gonsalves, Executive Manager- Financial Accounts, Gulf Bank awarded the man of the match cup to Kiran Lobo of NBK. Individual prizes for the players were given by Mr.Riaz Choudhary & Mr. Mehboob Khan Pathan and the prizes for umpires were given by Mr. Abdulla Abbasi from Radio Kuwait.

	Rabindranath Gonsalves awarded the man of the match award to Kiran Lobo of NBK
	The prize distribution ceremony was witnessed by Lt. General Saied Mubarak, Board member of Kuwait Cricket and Mr. Asad Baig, Director General of Kuwait Cricket. The match was officiated by John Solomon & Abdul Qayyum.

	Wining team NBK with Gulf Bank and Kuwait Cricket officials
	A large number of budding cricketers from Kuwait enthusiastically watched the Final.