MADINAH, 20 December 2002 — 2nd MCA Saudi Airlines Cup cricket tournament resumed after the Ramadan and Eid breaks. Two matches were played in the first round. This tournament is being sponsored by Al- Dakheel Travels under the banner of Saudi Arabian Airline and organized by Medinah Cricket Association.
The first match was played at Al-Aqool Ground No.1 between Sadafco and Khan Sports. Sadafco won the match. Elected to bat first, Sadafco scored 325 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 30 overs. Ejaz, who is in top form, scored 178 which is highest score ever in MCA’s history. He hit 18 ropes and seven sixes during his knock. Ghayas also given a strong support by putting 78 runs with eight boundaries and three sixes. Hammad scored 21. Akhter and Masood Khan from Khan Sports claimed three and two wickets, respectively.
Chasing the target of 325 runs, Khan Sports could manage only 201 runs. Masood Khan, being top scorer, stood at 43 while Akhter Amjad and Jawed scored 36, 22 and 21 runs respectively. From Sadafco, Afzal claimed four wickets while Asim Zain and Zahid Ali took two wickets each.
In the second match played at Al- Aqool Ground No. 4 between MCA Junior and Marhaba, resulted in favor of Marhaba. Batting first, Marhaba put the target of 270 runs with the help of 64 from Shabbir, 53 from Mudassar, 31 by Saqib, 28 from Asad and 24 from Azhar. Among the Junior, Abu Baker claimed three wickets while Abdul Rehman took two.
In reply, MCA Junior were all out for 177 runs. Hamza scored 72 runs with seven fours while Rizwan stood second with 26 runs. Saqib bagged three wickets. Bilal and Nasrullah supervised the match. (Zahid Ali)
