JEDDAH, 12 April — In quarterfinal matches of Jeddah Cricket League Friday League sponsored by Kanoo, Zuhair Zahran edged out Red Sea Paints. Shalimar surprised high flying Deccan Blues. Kanoo was too good for Adamjee Insurance and Kanoo Travel had its mark over UNESCO.

Zuhair Zahran edge

out Red Sea Paints

In a hard-fought match, Zuhair Zahran beat Red Sea Paints by 18 runs.

Zuhair Zahran opting to bat first was provided a sound start of 61 by Kaleem (39-7 fours) and Haroon (61-3 fours). Kaleem was full of aggression and Haron let him have the strike most of the time. Kaleem cut and pulled with perfect timing. His innings had 7 boundaries 2 twos and 7 singles.

Pervaiz hit 22 of only 12 balls containing 3 hits to the rope. Aslam added 17 with the help of 2 boundaries. Mumrez hit one towering six and 2 fours in his unbeaten 22.

Haroon accumulated his runs with perfect nudges here and there. Zuhair Zahran reached 181 runs in its share of overs for 4 wickets. Liaqat (2 for 41) and Anees (2 for 40) picked wickets.

Red Sea Paints’ reply suffered early set back as Shabbir was dismissed by Zafar in 1st over.

Shakil (36) and Saleem (41) added 77 runs for 2nd wicket partnership. Red Sea Paints was well on course but Mumrez burst of 3 wickets in one over halted the Red Sea runs chase.

Akram (16) and Naveed (10) survived for a while. Rashid (3 for 29) sealed Red Sea Paints fate who were all out for 163. Haroom, Aslam and Zafar had wicket apiece.

Shalimar stun Deccan Blues

Deccan Blues who was the only unbeaten team so far in the league and looking confident to the next stage met its waterloo against bottom of the ladder Shalimar who won by 5 wickets.

Deccan Blues posted a reasonable tally of 187 runs which Shalimar achieved for the loss of 5 wickets only. A. Quddous (21) and A. Aziz (25) laid the foundation but Deccan Blues lost 2 quick wickets of Asif (09) and Maroof (19). Basheer hit 2 boundaries in his contribution of 19. Basheer (36) pushed the score along and hit 3 fours. Shabbir using a long handle hit three sixes and 2 fours in his unbeaten innings of 46. Rahat claimed 2 victims for 31 runs. Nabeel and Tariq one wicket each for 28 and 23 runs.

Tariq (94) single handedly won the match for Shalimar. His innings was studded with 12 perfectly timed boundaries and 2 lofted hits. He was well supported first by Rahat (32 one six and one four) and then by Abdullah (37).

Abdullah’s innings was also very valuable as the youngster ran two where only single was possible. Shalimar heaved a sigh of relief when Qasim took two of the penultimate ball. Maroof claimed 2 scalps for 38 runs. Badr had 1 for 42.

Kanoo beat Adamjee

Insurance by 47 runs

Kanoo amassed 223 runs for the loss of two wickets only and Adamjee Insurance replied with 176 runs for 9 wickets.

Kanoo’s massive tally contained an unbeaten knock of 126 by its opener Wasif. Wasif, having lady luck smiling on him, took on the bowlers of Adamjee Insurance by the scruff of their neck and dispatched to all corners of ground at will. He hit 12 well timed boundaries and 3 skyscrapers.

Adamjee Insurance too did not help their cause as quite a few simple catches were spilled. Tayyab (25) played second fiddle to Wasif but hit 4 fours. Azam Khan contributed 32 with the help of 4 hits to the ropes.

Kader chipped in with unbeaten 12. Saleem (1 for 48) suffered most as he had simple catches of his bowling dropped. Yasim (1 for 38) claimed Azam’s wicket.

Facing an uphill task, Adamjee Insurance openers Imran (51-5 fours) and Ather (31-3 fours as well as a six) took up the challenge and put 82 runs’ opening partnership in 8 overs. But Wasif (3 for 25) disrupted the run chase. He dismissed Imran, Shahid (10) and Yasim (5), Irfan (38-3 fours) tried to put the reply back on track but asking rate rose as wickets kept failing. Yaser scored 15. Adamjee Insurance could score 176 runs losing 9 wickets. A. R. Merchant bowled one over and claimed 2 victims for 9 runs. A. Kader and Nadeem Ikram had wicket apiece.

Kanoo Travel win against UNASCO

UNASCO gave a target of 180 runs for victory to Kanoo Travel. Kanoo realized the target in the last over for the loss of 4 wickets.

UNASCO challenging tally was made possible by contribution of Ashraf (30), Zahid Iqbal (40) and Arif Nazeer (35). Shameem and Sohail grabbed 2 and 3 wickets respectively.

Sohail (30-3 fours) and Rashid (39-4 fours and a six) laid the foundation and their partnership was worth 61 runs. Rabie Zubair (27-3 fours) was run out when seemed in full control.

Shoaib added 15 . Shafi (34 n.o.-2 fours) and Shaukat (7 n.o.) took Kanoo Travel to victory without any further loss. Nadeem, Ashgar, and Zahid claimed one wicket each for 29, 30 and 29 runs respectively.

Nadir Toor beat Attar Travel

in Consolation Cup

Attar Travel 150 (Asad 43, Ravi 20, and Kashif 36 - Hamid 3 for 20, Hashim 2 for 26). Nadir Toor 151 (Ghayoor 44, Hamid 75 n.o.)

Patel XI outplay UMA

UMA 138 (Mushtaq 30, Aiman 12, Akbar 15, Ismail 2 for 36, Nadeem 3 for 22) PATEL XI 139 (Nadeem 34, Ismail 31, Idrees 23, Umar 3 for 27).