ALKHOBAR, 15 March — In the EPCA Knockout tournament sponsored by Saudi Valve Manufacturing Est. (SVM) the Globe Marine, in a very close encounter, outclassed Al Hoda by one wicket.
Al Hoda batted first but were all out for 227 runs in their allotted 40 overs.
Suresh batted well and scored a fine half century of 54 runs which include 5 hits to the fence. Faisal also batted well and scored 49 runs. Grish scored a useful 40 runs, Gopinath 36 and Sajjad 30 runs were the other contributors. Firoz bowled well and took 4 wickets for 35 runs and Irfan took 3 wickets for 49 runs.
In reply, Globe Marine lost two wickets early but captain Irfan scored a fine half century and Modassar scored 25 runs before he was caught of the bowling off Suresh. Fayyaz tried to consolidate the innings played some glorious shots and scored a fine half century but he also lost his wickets to Suresh whe he missed a straight ball while trying for a big hit.
After this Suresh ripped through the Globe batting line and took another four quick wickets and it seemed that Globe Marine might lose the match but thanks to Ansar and Adnan whose brilliant display of batting, carried their team to superb victory. Suresh bowled very well and took 6 wickets for 42 runs and Faisal claimed 2 wickets.
In another match, SVM beat Rainbow by 104 runs. SVM batted first and scored 276 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Captain Mohammed Ayub batted very well and scored a fine unbeaten century of 127 runs. Zulfiqar and Tariq bowled well and took 2 wickets each. In reply, Rainbow were all out for 172 runs. Muhammad Akram 51 runs was the top scorer and his brother Naveed Akram scored 28 runs. Unni Krishnan bowled well and took 4 wickets for 44 runs and Ismail and Ashraf claimed two wickets each.
In another match, Khalifa Algosaibi defeated Younsters by two wickets. Youngsters batted first and scored 217 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. Mohsin 57 runs, Matloob 43 and Taqi scored 28 runs. Eijaz bowled well and took 3 wickets for 42 runs. In reply, Algosaibi reached the target in the 36th over. Eijaz batted magnificently and scored a fine century and carried his team to fine victory. Abbas contributed with 29 runs and Abid Adnan and Adil took 2 wickets each. Alghamdi beat Imran Tigers by 7 wickets. Imran Tigers scored 253. Waseem sparkled with a fine century. Sajjad bowled well and took 4 wickets and Rehan claimed two wickets. Alghamdi reached the target in the 34th over. Thanks to Khawar who batted well and scored a beautiful unbeaten century of 138 runs. Sadaqat contributed well as he made 70 runs and Riaz scored 40 runs.
In another match, Kanoo outplayed YATA by 9 wickets. YATA scored 248 for the loss of 9 wickets. Their main scorers were Amjad 70 runs, Najeeb 38 and Asim 37 runs. Ayub Khan bowled well and took 3 wickets for 29 runs and Affaq took 2 wickets for 41 runs. In reply, Kanoo scored 251 for the loss of one wicket. Munawwar scored a fine unbeaten century of 135 runs, Iqbal Bali scored 56 not out and Goga scored 32 runs.
SPG outlast AGE by 90 runs. SPG made 350 for 3. Talal Iqbal 150, Amjad Butt 90 and Hamid Jameel 25. Shahzi took 2 wickets. AGE started well but could only manage 260 runs. Zahid 38, Abul Hasan 38, Sikandar 40 and Modassar 40 not out were the main scorers. In another match, Hyderabad Blues beat Deccan Blues.
