Deccan Knights win ACE Travel Premier League Cup

Deccan Knights were given some anxious moments before they got the better of ICC Irfan Basha by 3 wickets to lift the Premier League title for the ACE Travel Cup, organized by the Jeddah Cricket Association recently.
Kanoo routed Natco by 94 runs to take third spot.
The highlight of the final was Deccan Knight’s Athar Abdul Quddus final all-round performance. Qudds scored a match winning innings of 70 runs and earlier dazzled with the ball as he tied the rival batsmen in knots with his tight bowling and took 2 for 28 runs.
Earlier, Raheel stood tall for ICC with his impressive unbeaten innings of 102, which went in vain.
Kanoo’s Sami slammed a fine 133 which helped his team cruise past Natco.
ICC Irfan Basha batted first and put on board 196 for 9. The top and middle order crumbled with Babar, Azhar, skipper Irfan Qureshi, Sadiq, Moaiz, Attar-Ur-Rahman, Umar and Nabeel all back in the pavilion with low scores.
However, Raheel came to his side’s rescue with a sterling batting display, combined with defense and aggression. It was only due to his innings that ICC could put up a decent total of196.
Sohail and Athar Abdul Quddus bowled menacingly and claimed 2 wickets each for 31 and 28 runs respectively. Inayat, Shoaib and Rabbani had a wicket each.
In reply, Deccan knights scored 198 for 7 with an over to spare. Athar Abdul Quddus played a match winning innings of 70 runs. He faced 51 deliveries and hit beautifully timed 6 boundaries and a six, which brought his team in sight of victory. Besides Athar, Sohail scored 18, Najeeb 26 and Inayat 25 were the main contributors. Nabeel and Umar had one wicket each for 28 and 35 runs respectively. The winners lost three batsmen due to run outs. ICC made the Knightmen’s task easier as they contributed 22 runs in the form of extras.
In the match of the third place, Kanoo set a target of 294 runs to Natco for victory. However, it was too much for Natco as they managed only 199 for 4.
Besides Sami, Arshan 65, and Najam 28 were the other batsmen who impressed.
Ashiq bagged 2 wickets while Faisal and Fahad had one wicket.
In reply Natco managed 199 for 4. Fahad top-scored with 33 runs followed Hasnain 25, Ashiq 30 and Butt 17. Kanoo gave away 32 runs in the form of extras. Muheeb, Rashid, Sami, Waseem claimed one wicket each.
Shamshad Ahmed Khan, of ACE Travel and Tours director of finance for western region, was the chief guest and distributed the prizes.
Award winners
Champions: Deccan Knights.
Runner-up: ICC-Irfan Basha.
Third place: Kanoo club.
Man-of-the-Final: Athar Abdul Quddus of
Deccan Knights.
Batsman with maximum runs: Shaan
Manzoor Malik of Jawar Al Jazira.
Batsmen with best averages: Shan
Manzoor Malik, Syed Mohammad Afroz
and Mohammad Ayazuddin Irfan.
Best batting performance in a match:
Akbar of Kanoo Travel.
Bowler with maximum wickets: Nabeel
of ICC Irfan Basha.
Bowler with best bowling averages:
Nabeel, Rana Shahzad and Athar Abdul
Quddus.
Best bowling performance in a match:
Humayun of Natco.
Best all-rounder: Shan Manzoor Malik
and Tabriz.
Best partnership: Akbar and Ibrahim Bin
Mehfooz of Kanoo Travel 258 runs against
Zinda Tilismat-XI, Asim and Shan
Manzoor Malik of Jawar Al Jazira 159 runs
against ACE Travels.
Hat trick: Rana Shahzad against Tamer 3
for 26.
A plaque of appreciation was given to the management of ACE Travels. Special awards were given to umpires Azam Khan, Kumar Krishnan; Amer and Hafez Sayeed for logistics.