RIYADH, 15 March — Saudia Milk won the “A” Division trophy of Bank Al-Saudi Al-Fransi RCA 40 overs tournament, beating Friends by three wickets at RCA-2 grounds while Young Friends won the “B” Division trophy, whipping SAMBA by three wickets at RCA-3 grounds.

In “A” division finals, Friends were managed a respectable score of 268 all out in their stipulated 40 overs. Muneer Rana and Nazir bowled well for Saudia Milk and took four and three wickets conceding 51 and 37 runs, respectively.

Javed Munawar chipped in with two wickets giving away 46 runs. Chasing the target, Saudia Milk achieved it in the last over for the loss of seven wickets. Saudia Milk started shakily, losing Kashif Butt early but later batsman played sensible cricket and carried their team to victory stand.

Also, two good partnerships — first involving Khalid Mahmood and Rashid Rana and second involving Jabbar and Sohail helped them to achieve the target. Khalid Mahmood made a brilliant 71 with the help of seven fours and two sixes while Rashid Rana contributed a fine 57 with one hit to the fence.

Jabbar and Sohail remained not out on 27 and 30 runs respectively. Later, Khalid Mahmood was adjudged “man-of-the-match” for his splendid knock.

Brief scores: (Saudia Milk — 269 for 7 in 39.2 overs — Khalid Mahmood 71, Rashid Rana 57, Jabbar 27 n.o., Sohail 30 n.o.); (Friends C.C.: 268 — Muneer Rana 4/51, Javid Munawar 2/46, Nazir 3/37 ).

In the “B” Division encounter, Young Friends whipped SAMBA by three wickets to take the honors at RCA-3 grounds. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, SAMBA batsman failed to put up a fight and were all out for 176. Only Asif Farhan made 70 with nine hits to the fence. The other notable scorer was skipper Raza Khan who scored 20 runs.

Requiring 177 to win, Young Friends after initial hiccups, finally managed to score the required runs in 38th over for the loss of 7 wickets. Khalid Qureshi (69) was the top scorer for Young Friends. His innings was studded with two fours and two sixes. Ali Shah 34, Muhammad Afaq 22 and Amer Raza 30 were also amongst the runs for Young Friends. Raza Khan bowled well and grabbed five wickets conceding 37 runs.

Later, Khalid Qureshi was adjudged “man-of-the-match” for his fine batting.

Brief scores: (Young Friends: 180 for 7 in 37.5 overs — Muhammad Afaq 22, Ali Shah 34, Khalid Qureshi 62, Amer Raza Shah 30, Raza Khan 5/37, Sajjad Haider 2/32.); (SAMBA: 176 — Asif Farhan 70, Raza Khan 20, Ali Shah 2/16, Irfan Ali 3/41, Iftequar Qureshi 2/28).