WESTERN PROVINCE CRICKET ASSOCIATION Hyderabad sharks, kkr, al Saudi xi and Sialkot shaheen clinch the titles. GRAND FINALE with 4 finals.
by: Dr. SAYED ZIAUDDIN
Jeddah: Four Finals at different Levels were part of the WPCA Grand finale played on September 16, 2023, at the WPCA Waziriyah Grounds. In the Premier prime, Hyderabad Sharks won one-sided against Lothers with 9 wickets remaining as Mohammed Usman played a scintillating inning of 84 to steer the team to the safety of victory to get to 140 for 1 in 102 balls. Earlier Atif Gill bowled well for his 4 for 14 in his 4 overs to restrict Lothers to a meagre 139.
In the Afternoon Blue KKR was too strong for Stallions as KKR batting first amassed 217 for 7 and then restricted Stallions to 191 for 7 in stipulated 20 overs to win by 26 runs. In the Morning session Al Saudi XI chased the huge target of 227 for 5 in 119 balls Adnan smashed the match winning 94 against Markhour XI. Markhour Xi set a big target of 224 thanks to Atif Saein who hammered a fine century of 104 in 46 balls. In the Morning Blue Final Cascade Group opted to bat first and piled up 171 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs which was looking to be 20 runs short if not 30 but then Sialkot Shaheen had no difficulty in achieving the winning target of 172 for 6 in 119 balls as Shahzad hit 55. The matches were played in a very cordial atmosphere without any untoward incident and WPCA Executive Committee organized it to its perfection.
Match # 61: PREMIER PRIME FINAL:
Timex Lothers decided to bat first on a heavily humid and scorching hot day and lost two early wickets Waqas (13) and Ibrar ul Haq(11) going back to reduce them to 27 for 2. Abdulwahid then realizing the gravity of the situation took the charge in his hands to hammer 65 in 26 balls with 6 sixes and 5 fours to add 52 in 29 balls for the 3rd wkt with Ahmed Shamsuddin (5) to get to 79. But then Atif gill coming in the 9th over claimed 2 wkts to reduce Lothers to 79 for 4. From here Lothers just lost wkts at regular intervals to get bowled out for 139 in the 20th over. ShahKhalid made 16 and Salin 11 from the lower order batters whereas none could touch the double digits. Atif gill bowled very well for his 4 for 14 in his 4 overs, Asim Iqbal 2-20, Umer Farooq 2-40 and Usman 2-20.
Hyderabad Sharks in the chase had no difficulty in getting to the Victory target of 140 for 1 in 102 balls to win by 9 wkts with 18 balls to remain. In a way, it was a one-sided match dominated by Hyderabad sharks as Mohammed Usman remained unbeaten on 84 off 55 balls studded with 5 sixes and 7 fours, as he first stitched 91 in 57 balls for the first wkt with Mohammed Shahzad who made 37 in 24 balls with 5 fours and then 49 runs 45 balls for the unbroken 2nd wkt with Mohammed Ilyas who remained unbeaten on 14.
MOM: Mohammed Usman bagged the Mom for his 2 wkts and match-winning unbeaten 84 runs. UMPIRES: 1. Mr. Kashif Mirza and 2. Mr. Shareefuddin Padubidri were the official umpire for the match. Mr. Arshad Noor did the scoring in the Premier Final.
Match # 60: AFTERNOON BLUE FINAL: KKR opting to bat first against Stallions racked up a huge 217 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs on ground # 7. Nojum from the middle order hammered an unbeaten 70 in 25 balls studded with 5 sixes and 7 fours to enhance the tally past 200. KKR batted well but was still lagging behind run rate they would have liked as they were 126 for 5 at the end of the 14th over. Just 6 overs were remaining when Nojum made the entry to blast almost 90 runs in 36 balls as he added 94 runs in 38 balls for the 6th wkt with Mushtaq who made 22 in 16 balls with 2 fours. Earlier AbdulJalil hit 8 fours and a six to compile 39 in 15 balls as he added 42 in 20 balls for the first wkt with Shafeer who made 21 in 16 balls. Kabeer then in the middle order hit 32 in 24 balls, Yasir 14 and Jasim 13. A wkt each was taken by Hassan Ali 1-34, Aftab Malik 1-26, Safiuddin 1-24 and Faizan Anjum 1-32. Stallions having a good control till the 15th over with 135 for 5 just could not put the breaks on Nojum who just went berserk with his stroke play and got to an impressive and defendable target.
Stallions in response could manage 191 for 7 in stipulated 20 overs to lose by 26 runs. Aqeel Malik coming 2 down hit 45 in 36 balls with 2 sixes and a four added 44 in 31 balls for the 3rd wkt with Shafeeq who made 36 in 20 balls with 6 hits to the ropes. But then required run rate much above this and somebody had to play what Nojum did for KKR. Jahanzeb then smashed 52 in 28 balls with 4 huge sixes and a four as he added 77 in 42 balls for the 4th wkt with Aqeel Malik. At the end of the 15th over 149 for 4 was still a bit tough but not impossible with 69 required in the last 30 balls with 6 wkts in hand. However, none clicked as Abid made 15 and Aftab Malik 13. Jasim bowled magnificently for his 4 for 42 to ensure that Stallions have no chance to accelerate the required run rate. Shabeer Ali took 1-38, Yasir 1-38 and Shajar 1-31. It was definitely a good match and as expected the favourite won the Final. KKR played wonderful Cricket throughout the Tournament and in every match, they looked to dominate the proceedings right from the start with a finely balanced and disciplined team.
MOM: Nojum Najeeb bagged the MOM award for the Final for his total boosting of 70. UMPIRES: The Afternoon final was officiated by Mr. SYED WAHID and Mr. ZAIN UL HUDA. Mr. Amer Choudhry di the scoring.
Match # 89: MORNING PRIME FINAL: Markhour XI won the toss to bat first against Al Saudi XI to amass 224 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. Atif Saein blasted 104 in 46 balls with 9 sixes and 8 fours, as his fifty came in 21 balls and his hundred in 40 balls whereas he added 131 runs in 60 balls for the 2nd wkt with Jibran Jawed who contributed 38 in 29 balls with 6 fours. Shamas Khan later hit 28 in 12 balls with 3 boundaries and a six while Shafaqat scored 13. Omerdiene grabbed 4 wkts for 45 and Nadeem Saad 2-45 for Al Saudi XI.
Al Saudi XI chasing this mammoth target of 225 achieved the victory target in 119 balls with 5 wkts remaining. Adnan batted with concentration and dedication to slam match winning 94 in 46 balls with 4 sixes and 9 fours as he first added 88 runs in 50 balls for the 2nd wkt with Kashif Shafeeq who made 60 in 36 balls with 2 sixes and 7 fours and then 54 in 31 balls for the 4th wkt with Nazeer Farooqui who made 17 to maintain the required run rate. Earlier prolific Omerdiene hit 33 in 17 balls with 2 sixes and 5 fours to provide a good start of 58 in 26 balls for the opening stand. The essence of Al Saudi XI batting was that every batter entering the field knew his job and they worked according to the plan. The trick in chasing the huge target is to maintain the required run rate and the pressure is nullified on the incoming batters and they play their natural game. Al Saudi XI reached the winning target of 227 for 5 in 119 balls to lift the winning trophy. Markhour XI bowled well with Asif taking 1-45, Aslam 1-50, Shafaqat 1-50, Farhan 1-30 and Imran 1-10.
MOM: UMPIRES: Mr. Saleem Ghani and Mr. Mohammed Rafiullah did the Umpiring on Ground # 9 as Thakur Harbans Singh was the scorer.
Match # 88: MORNING BLUE FINAL: Cascade Group opting to bat first against Sialkot Shaheen on Ground # 4 could manage 171 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. Jaweed Ahmed’s opening for his team hit 41 in 24 balls with 7 fours as he stitched 66 runs in 36 balls for the first wkt with Syed Wahajuddin who made 40 in 26 balls with 2 sixes and 4 fours. Irfan Ayazuddin then made 19 and Adeel Deshmukh 28 in 23 balls to get to a good total. This target set by Cascade was around 20 to 30 runs short and should have been in the range of 190+. Anyway, Cascade was carrying a good bowling side and expected Bowlers to give them a breakthrough. Yasir scalped 2-28, M. Naeem 2-40, Hammad Ashraf 1-24, Tehseen 1-10 and Mohammed Nazim 1-18.
Sialkot Shaheen in the chase had no difficulty in getting to the winning target of 172 for 6 in 119 balls to win the Final by 4 wkts with one ball to spare. Yasir coming 2 down hit 41 in 28 balls with 2 fours and a sixes he first added 42 in 25 balls for the 3rd wkt with Shahzad who made 55 in 30 balls with 2 sixes and 8 fours and then he added 46 in 37 balls for the 4th wkt with Mohammed Nazim who made 16 in 20 balls. Hammad then stroked 26 in 13 balls with 3 fours and a six. Osama Amjed grabbed 3 for 47, Irfan Ayazuddin 2-25 and Syed Hmmamuddin 1-25.
Cascade Group with young and budding Cricketers played well in the tournament and were hit by three of their Players selected for the U19 Tour. Despite this, they played well and gave a fitting fight to a team which also played good Cricket in the last couple of Tournaments.
MOM: Yasir of Sialkot Shaheen bagged the MOM award for his 2 weeks and match-winning 41 runs. UMPIRES: Naushad MMM and Nasir Mukhtar were the official Umpires as Farrukh Sultan is the scoring.
