RIYADH, 3 May — Hosts SACO reached the finals of the 2nd SACO Supper Cup softball cricket tournament after beating Al Jeraisy in the first semifinal played at Al-Jeraisy ground.
In the first semifinal, Imran’s century went in vain as hosts SACO comfortably beat Al-Jeraisy by 4 wickets. Winning the toss and elected to bat first, Al-Jeraisy failed to capitalized on batting first, were scored 181 for the loss of 3 wickets in the stipulated overs.
The highlight of the Jeraisy’s batting was a supber 102 runs by Imran. But all his efforts ended smoke when Jeraisy lost the match.
The other scorers were Saber 25 and Masood 19. For SACO, Afzal took 3 wickets conceding 14 runs. Chasing the target, SACO batsman started well and scored runs at brisk pace with Mohammed Ashfaq scoring a fine 62 while Ishaq and Afzal contributed identical score of 32 runs. SACO achieved the target losing 6 wickets. For Al-Jeraisy, Amir took 3 wickets giving away 41 runs. Afzal Khan was adjudged ‘Man-of-the-Match’ for his all-round performance.
In second semifinal, Philips thrashed MEED by 52 runs. Batting first, the star-studded Philips helped by an accomplished 74 by Afzal and brisk 26 by Asif reached a respectable score of 185 for 2 in their allotted overs. For MEED, Hussein took 2 wickets conceding 15 runs. In reply, MEED could score only 133 for 9 in their stipulated overs. The main scorers for MEED were Faiz 13, Altaf 14 and Asif 16. Latafat bowled beautifully for Philips and captured 5 wickets conceding 29 runs while Asif and Amjad took 1 wicket each by giving away 18 and 21 runs respectively. Later Afzal was declared "Man-of-the-Match".
The finals between hosts SACO and Philips will be played today at Al-Jeraisy grounds.
Brief scores:
(Al-Jeraisy: 181 for 3 — Imran 102, Saber 25, Masood 19, Afzal 3/14, Amir 1/47 lost to SACO: 182 for 6 — Mohammed Ashfaq 62, Ishaq 32, Afzal 32, Amir 3/41).
(Philips: 185 for 2 — Afzal 74, Asif 26, Hussein 2/15 beat MEED: 133 for 9 — Faiz 13, Altaf 14, Asif 16, Latafat 5/29, Asif 1/18, Amjad 1/ 21).
