by: Bilal Khan
After a defeat in the previous week against PAK FORCE Cricket CLUB Riyadh aces were back to their best with a clinical performance against Ecricstore (Pak Shaheen) CC with a much-needed win by 42 runs in the ongoing Tera System T20 Tournament organized by RCA under Patron in chief HRH Prince General Dr. Abdulaziz bin Nasser.
Winning the toss, the Newly elected Captain of Riyadh Aces Hisham Shaikh chose to bat first. Openers Manzoor Shah and Abdullah Sherazi started off with a flyer, scoring 42 in 3 overs before Sherazi’s action-packed 27 off 11 came to an end with Abdul Wahab’s fantastic delivery.
In came Captain Mr. Cool Hisham, and he, along with Manzoor started picking on the bowlers and ran hard. They were swift between the wickets and scored boundaries at ease. Manzoor then got out trying to go for a six over long-off by Abdul Salam, who got the better of him. He scored 36 off 22. The Legend Nadeem Shah then entered the occasion and scored quick runs with Hisham. Hisham then got out on 43 off 28, trying to accelerate the scoring. Ahmed Ali Jamal and Nadeem Shah started to build again from scratch; the veterans were exceptional, scoring 12+ RPO at ease. Ahmed Ali Jamal was in fine touch. Nadeem Shah, the Legend, got out on 24 off 18 balls after scoring some important boundaries. Finally, in the last six overs, Bilal Helal Khan, who is known to be an excellent all-rounder in Riyadh cricket, came in and started building a partnership with Ahmed Ali, scoring 74 runs in the last five overs. Bilal hit some flashy cuts and effortless sixes while Ahmed continued his finesse from the other end.
Ahmed scored 51 off 28, and Bilal scored 39 off 14 balls while remaining not out to get the score to 229/4. Riyadh Aces started off their bowling with an eventful over from Bilal Khan, getting the wicket of Atta. Ishaq and Abdullah Zahir of Ecricstore started to build a partnership and scored 70 runs in the power play.
Captain Hisham and new leggy Abdullah Zaidi were phenomenal in the power play, keeping the runs down. Abdullah Sherazi and Syed Usman were introduced right after the power play. bdullah Sherazi started off his spell with a chance in the first two balls, but catches were dropped. He then got rid of Ishaq in the same over with a brilliant catch by Manzoor. Syed Usman contributed from the other end by applying pressure, whereas Abdullah Sherazi picked another three wickets in his next two overs taking wickets of the mighty Abdul Wahab and Abdul Salam. He then got his 5th wicket off his last over and killed the game there. Syed Usman was excellent from the other end and got one wicket as well. In the final touches, Debutant Mohsin Deshmukh bowled well along with Tayyub Subhani to ensure the match was finished easily.
Abdullah Sherazi was declared MOTM for his amazing performance with both bat and ball. Overall it was an incredible comeback from the team and looking forward to the matches ahead. The team is still missing the likes of Shahzaib, Adeel Shah, captain Umar Rana and Raja Ejaz who are out due to some personal commitments. Riyadh Aces is thrilled to welcome new faces who have proven in the previous seasons the amount of talent they have with the likes of Manzoor Shah, Bilal Khan, Abdullah Zaidi & Abdullah Sherazi.
