JEDDAH, 25 January — Jeddah Cricket League tournament sponsored by Kanoo Group, in the second division witnessed eight matches, in the eighth week Salaheen overcame IISJ challenge in the last over to win by 3 wickets.
Ali Reza ran through Zuhair Fayez batting to bowl them out for a meager 33 after piling up 232 runs. Afkar Promo7 sailed past Sadafco for a comfortable 60 runs margin victory. Tamer had the better of Sado Zai by 41 runs and. Nestle Milo humble Saudia Majestique by 21 runs.
At the Kanoo ground, Salaheen played IISJ. After winning the toss IISJ elected to take first strike and put on a fighting score of 142 for 8 in the allotted 18 overs. Opener Mujahid (47) was the anchor batsman. Ammar (22) supported him well in the middle order. Shashee was the strike bowler and claimed three wickets in his very first over to finish with figures of 6 for 3.
In reply, Salaheen kept the run rate in sight and requiring 8 runs in the last over, lost a wicket but still overtook the target with 2 balls remaining for a nail biting finish. Opener Abdul Razzak (44) laid the foundation and Shashee showed skill with the bat also to score 28 valuable runs for his team to reach 145 for 7 and a thrilling 3 wicket triumph.
At the Hempel Paints ground, Ali Reza sent Zuhair Fayez who were playing with short of players, on a leather hunt hammering 232 for 5 in 20 overs.
Contribution to the score came from most of the batsmen. Good opening partnership from Hasan (35) and Mohsin (22). Gazanfar (51 n.o.) Reza (21), Imran (34) and Imam (20 n.o.) were the other scorers. Murtaza took 2 wickets for 46 and Rizwan 2 for 51. In reply, Zuhair Fayez were bowled out for 33 possibly the lowest score in JCL history. Two run outs initially took the wind out of there batting and Ihsan took 2 wickets without conceding any runs in one over he bowled. Ali Reza had a massive victory by 199 runs.
At the Eskan 1 ground Afkar Promo7 easily defeated Sadafco by a margin of 60 runs. In the allotted 20 overs they piled up 209 for the loss of 5 wickets. Afkar Promo openers were in full cry; Ali plundered 61 runs in 33 balls while his partner Parvez amassed 81 in 47 balls, for the opening stand of 146. Anwar took 2 wickets for 32.
Faced with a daunting task of scoring more than 10 runs an over, Sadafco never looked to be in the race, except for opener Hamid R. (68) who stood his ground while the other batsmen left hurriedly to the pavilion. The second highest score (20) were extras. Sadafco could mange only 149 for 8 and a win in a platter to Afkar Promo7.
At the Hempel Paints ground, Tamer also went on run rampage against Sado Zai to score 207 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. Fine batting display by openers Almas (67) and Siraj (21). The inning was consolidated in the middle order by Saleem (51) and Osman (25). Amer took 2 wickets for 33. Sado Zai were also left with a Herculean task of scoring 10 runs and over. In spite of excellent batting by opening batsman Ajaz (89), Ramzan (22) and Qasim (31) Sado Zai conceded the matching complaining of bad light after completing 17 overs, scoring167 for loss of 4 wickets.
In the remaining three overs they needed to score 41 runs and lost the match by this margin. Noor took 2 wickets for 32. At their home ground Nestle Milo won in style against Saudia Majestique. Imran gave an all round display for Nestle Milo to score 45 not out and then claimed 2 valuable wickets for 33. Electing to bat, Nestle Milo made a respectable total of 169 for 5 in the allotted 18 overs. Opener Aurangzeb made (22). A middle order bating partnership of 73 between Imran and Rehmat (37) built the innings. Munhaf took 2 wickets for 31. In reply Saudia Majestique were restricted to 148 for 7. Sammad (48) Yousef Popet (34) and down the order Yousef (22) were the main scorers.
