RIYADH, 2 March 2007 — Fine batting performances by Salam, Waqas and Rizwan Manzoor were the highlights of last week’s matches in the Under-19 Inter-School Arab News Cup cricket tournament.
The tourney is organized by the Riyadh Cricket Association and being played on the RCA grounds in Sulay area.
At RCA-1 ground, Rizwan Manzoor continued his good form as he helped Pakistan International School (Nasseriya) to a convincing win against Bangladesh International School (BIS-English section ). Batting first, PIS reached 185 runs losing only 4 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Rizwan Manzoor made a brisk 67 runs with the help of 5 fours. Captain Amer Thrombo was also in fine nick as he made 48 runs with 5 boundaries. Obaidullah also contributed 32 runs to the total. For BIS Muntasir and Naheyan took two wickets each.
In reply, the BIS boys raced for their target vigorously but fell short of 17 runs as they wrapped up for 158 runs in 20 overs. Meer Omar waged a lonely fight by making splendid 67 runs which were decorated with 7 boundaries and 1 sixer . The other notable scorers were Sheefat (30 runs) and Opul (21 runs). For PIS Rizwan Manzoor was deadly with his bowling as he took 4 wickets for 24 runs. Jahangir took 2 for 9.
In another match at RCA-2 ground, Jawaher Al Riyadh International School (JRIS) trounced Middle East International School (MEIS) by 8 wickets. Batting first, MEIS could only muster 145 runs before being all-out in only 19.3 overs. Only Waqas batted gallantly to keep the MEIS floating with masterly 69 runs which contain 9 fours and 2 huge sixers. None of the MEIS batsmen gave any support to him. For (JRIS) captain Hassan Javed bowled with lot of guile to take 4 for 11, Umer Akhtar took 2 for 11.
JRIS boys reached the target in style with 7 overs to spare and losing only 2 wickets. Hassan Javed completed his all-round display by scoring 50 runs with the help of 7 fours and 1 sixer . He was well supported by M.Zulqarnain who made a fine 40 runs which contained 6 fours. For MEIS Umar Akhtar took 2 for 21 runs.
In the last match for under-14 at RCA-3 ground, Pakistan International School (Nasseriya) defeated Indian International Public School (IIPS) by 39 runs. Batting first the PIS batsmen made merry of the IIPS bowlers as they lobbed 222 runs off the allotted 20 overs, Salam was in magnificent form as he made 73 runs with 10 boundaries, he got good support from Qadeer (41 runs) and Saleem (25 runs). For IIPS M.Arshad and S.Shaj took 2 wickets each. IIPS batsmen gave a good account in reply, scoring 183 runs. S. Bharadwaj contributed 75 runs by his splendid performance with partnership with M.Arshad who made 23 runs .
Fuchs Petroleum Sponsors
RCA 40 Overs Tournament
Meantime, Al-Hamrani Fuchs Petroleum, one of the major lubricant oil manufacturers and suppliers in the Kingdom, has sponsored RCA’s 40 overs cricket tournament that began on Feb. 15. This was announced by RCA President Abdul Qadeer Mirza in a meeting with Masood Ali Khan, area manager at Fuchs Petroleum.. RCA PRO Rehan Khan thanked Fuchs Petroleum for supporting RCA for over a decade.
Twenty two teams are entered in the tournament. They are divided in two divisions with 12 teams in Division A and 10 in Division B teams will participate. The tournament will be played on league basis on RCA grounds in Sulay.
