JEDDAH, 19 April — In the semifinal of Jeddah Cricket League’s Friday League sponsored by Kanoo, Kanoo beat Kanoo Travel by six wickets. Zuhair Zahran prevailed over Shalimar. In the Consolation Cup matches, Juffali Benz and Nadir Toor triumphed over ACE Travel and UMA respectively.
Kanoo beat Kanoo Travel by six wickets
Though Kanoo and Kanoo Travel teams are from the same group yet the match was billed to be highly competitive and full of rivalary. Both teams wanted to prove a point.
Kanoo Travel won the toss and opened through Sohail Butt (12) and Rashid Khurshid (2). Naeem Amin (2 for 19) bowling with fire pinned both batsmen down. Rashid had his castle broken in the third over. Inspite of all his experience Sohail Butt could not get Naeem Amin away and in frustration holed out. Kanoo Travel suffered another blow when Shoaib after calling Rabie Zubair for run but was double-minded and sent him back.
But the youngster could not beat the throw and was run out. Shoaib (41-5 fours) and Majid (21-one six) added 61 valuable runs for fourth wicket partnership. Majid who was getting his timing back played lofted shot of Wasif and was caught by Shahid. Kashif (28-2 sixes) indulged in big hits toward the end and brought some semblance of respectability to the tally. Kanoo Travel could only reach 133 runs for 8 wickets. Wasif grabbed 3 wickets for 41 runs. Mubashir (1 for 15) and Nadeem Ikram (1 for 30) also shared the spoils.
Requiring a modest score for victory, Kanoo too started badly as Wasif (05), Mohammed (12) and Azam Khan (01) were dismissed cheaply. It looked Kanoo Travel would just walk through but Naeem Amin (46) and Shahid Maulana (52) played very resolutely and took score to 102. Their partnership of 64 runs brought smiles on faces of Kanoo players as it released pressure of the coming batsmen. Shahid hit 6 boundaries whereas Naeem smashed 3 fours. Zubair (11 no) proved to be ideal partner of Shahid. Both ran between the wicket with complete understanding and turned ones into twos and twos into threes. Kanoo reached the target with 5 balls to spare. Shameem (1 for 25), Sohail (1 for 33), Aleem (1 for 30), and Shafi (1 for 29) shared the wickets.
Zuhair Zahran win against Shalimar
Shalimar who had stunned Deccan Blues in the quarterfinals could not have repeat performance and succumbed to Zuhair Zahran.
Consolation Cup
Juffali Benz beat ACE Travel
Farhan (16), Hamid Butt (52-5 fours), Azhar Butt (44-6 fours), and Shafi (34-3 fours) enabled Juffali Benz to pile up 185 runs. Mubashir picked 2 wickets for 37 and Ashfaq had 2 victims for 34 runs.
Hamid Butt (6 for 17) and Ishaq Chaudhary (3 for 24) demolished ACE Travel.
ACE Travel were all out for paltry 100. Mohsin (39) and Mubashir (30) were the main contributors. Ishaq Chaudhary is a minnow cricketer who demolished Dabbagh last week by grabbing six wickets.
Nadi Toor beat Patel XI
Patel XI were dismissed for a low score of 124 runs. Nadeem (10) and Kamran (15) did not last long. Mushtaq (20), Usman (15), Ismaeel (20) played well. Aizaz (3 for 20), Nadir (2 for 25) bowled good line and length and got the reward.
Nadir Toor XI surpassed the target in 17th over, losing three wickets, Ghayoor (24-3 fours) and Akram (61 no-6 fours) played forceful shots. Nadeem, Mustaq and Ismail shared the wickets.
