BY DR. SAYED ZIAUDDIN
JEDDAH: Bupa CC won against Thales Group by a big margin of 70 runs, Markhour Xi had the last laugh against young strikers, Black Hawks proved too strong for a depleted side Super CC, Apex Freight won against AEC to keep their chances to qualify, Nadeem XI thrashed Cascade Group while Landmark Arabia prevailed over Jeddah Falcons by 9 wkts as AWCC just missed the bus a solitary run to lose to Pak Shaheen in the WPCA Morning hostilities here in Phase 3 tournament.
Match # 62: Pak Shaheen won the toss to bat first against AWCC on ground # 4 to get to 137 for 6 in the allotted 18 overs. Awais hit 55 in 33 balls with 5 fours and a six as he added 43 for the first wkt with fellow opener Hassan (22). Sufiyan remained unbeaten on 18 and Kamran 13. Waheed claimed 3 for 26. AWCC in reply was stranded at 136 to lose by 1 run. Asif made 33 in 21 balls with six and 4 fours, Muzaffar 15, Attaullah was run out for 32 off 32 balls and Abdulwaheed 16. Kamran grabbed 3 for 32 and Hassan 3 for 20.
Match # 63: Jeddah Falcons were asked to bat first by the opponent’s Landmark Arabians managed 134 for 6 in the allotted 18 overs on Ground # 2. Salman Saleem hit 43 in 27 balls with 6 fours, Ayyub Kazi 25 in 31 balls, Sher Bahadur 16 and Fouzan Kazi 15 not out. Afreed took 3 for 26. Landmark Arabia in chase reached the victory target of 138 for 1 in 92 balls to win by 9 wkts with 16 balls to spare. Abhijeet hammered unbeaten 51 in 47 balls with 6 hits to the fence as he first added 46 in 32 balls for the first wkt with Siyam (16) and then 92 in 60 balls for the unbroken 2nd wkt with Afreed who smashed unbeaten 53 in 29 balls with 2 sixes and 5 fours to cross the winning post.
Match # 64; Cascade Group decided to bat first against Nadeem XI could tally 128 for 7 in the allotted 18 overs on ground # 9. Adil hit 50 in 44 balls with 5 fours, Osama 30 in 21 balls with 4 hits to the ropes and Ahmed 12. Sufiyan grabbed 4 wkts for 17 in his 3 overs. Nadeem XI chased the victory target of 129 for 2 in 83 balls to win by big 8 wkts with 25 balls to remain. Skipper Nadeem batted well for his match-winning 50 in 29 balls with six and 7 fours as he stitched 87 in 55 balls for the 2nd wkt with Khalid who remained unbeaten on 36 off 33 balls with 4 fours. Khalid then added 42 in 24 balls for the unbroken 3rd wkt with Ejaz who made 23 in 16 balls with 4 fours to win the game comfortably.
Match # 65: Super CC passing through a bad patch in this tournament was restricted to 79 for 8 (playing with just 9 players) in 11.1 overs with almost 41 balls remaining from their quota of 18 overs against Black Hawks. Moosa stroked 25 in 20 balls with 4 fours, Bilal 18 and Sibghat 10. Sheryar grabbed 3 for 32, Rafah 3 for 9 in his 2.1 overs and Osama 2 wkts. Black Hawks in response achieved the winning target of 82 for 6 in 49 balls to win by 4 wkts with 59 balls to remain. Rehan hit an unbeaten 26 in 18 balls with 4 fours and Asghar 16. Ihsan scalped 4 wkts for 31runs in his spell of 4 overs.
Match # 66: AEC put into bat by Apex Freight on ground # 7 could manage 149 in the allotted 18 overs. Abdulrehman Patel scored 30 in 23 balls with 3 fours, Umair 32 in 22 balls with 4 fours, Hassan 27 in 21 balls with 3 fours, Imtiyaz 29 in 18 balls with six and 2 fours and Ghaffar was run out for 12. Saeed grabbed 4 wkts for 29 and Zahid 2. Apex Freight in chase reached the winning target of 153 for 5 in 105 balls to win by 5 wkts with 3 balls to remain. Salman Raja hit 39 in 23 balls with 7 fours as he added 76 in 35 balls for the first wkt with Salman Magsi who scored 42 in 28 balls with 3 fours. Later Omair added 29 in 29 balls whereas Ahmed remained not out on 23 off 16 balls with 2 fours. Abdulrehman Patel scalped 2 wkts.
Match # 67: Young Strikers opting to bat first against Markhour XI managed 133 for 7 in allotted 18 overs on ground # 6. Tariq Siddiqui hit 35 in 36 balls with 3 fours as he added 66 runs in 47 balls for the opening stand with Mohammed Amjad who scored 38 in 21 balls with 7 hits to the ropes. Abdulrasheed made 18 and Afzal 11 not out. Farhan scalped 3 wkts for 22. Markhour XI in chase achieved the winning target of 137 for 6 in 103 balls to win by 4 wkts with 5 balls to spare. Atif batted well for his 46 in 25 balls with 4 fours as he stitched 66 in 35 balls for the first wkt with Farhan who made 23 in 16 balls with 3 fours. Jibran contributed 12, Imran 16 and Ibrar 13. Fahad and Tariq claimed 2 wkts each.
Match # 67: Bupa CC asked to use the track first against Thales group piled up 173 for 5 in allotted 18 overs on ground # 5. Attaurrehman top scored with 41 in 22 balls studded with 2 sixes and 5 fours as he stitched 45 for the 3rd wkt with skipper shahnawaz Khan who made 34 in 25 balls with 3 fours after the Bupa openers departed early at 21 for 2. Waseem then hit 24, Sheraz Ali 25 not out in 13 balls and Shoaib 23 in 17 balls with 3 boundaries to take the tally to 173 in 108 balls. Farhan claimed 3 for 34. Thales Group in response was restricted to 103 for 9 (all out) to lose the encounter by 70 runs. Kamran hit 35 in 21 balls with six and 3 fours, Mohsen Gul 22 in 16 balls with 3 fours, Azizurrehman 12 and Farhan Khan 11 as none from the middle order could touch the ten-digit mark. Shahnawaz Khan was the pick of the bowlers with 4 scalps for 10 runs in his 4 overs as Adnan Rana chipped in with two scalps.
