JEDDAH, 3 May — Fuchs Petroleum is sponsoring Jeddah Cricket League’s Friday League for the 12th consecutive year. Eighteen teams are participating in this league. The teams have been divided in three groups.
Two top teams from each group shall qualify for the quarterfinals. Five matches were played in the first week.
UMA outplayed Deccan Blues. Kanoo won against Tamer who has been promoted from 2nd Division. Adamjee Insurance had comfortable victory against Teem DDB. Dabbagh beat UNASCO. Shalimar beat Red Sea Paints.
UMA outplay Deccan Blues
UMA reached target of 156 runs set by Deccan Blues with four wickets in hand and almost an over to spare.
A. Quddous (73) once again played a sterling innings for Deccan Blues. A. Aziz (28-2 fours and a six), Basheer (18-one four) and Lobo (10) were the other notable contributors. A. Quddous faced most of the bowling and kept scorecard ticking.
He faced 60 balls and hit 6 boundaries. Batsmen at the other end seemed in a hurry. Deccan Blues posted 156 runs for 5 wickets. Credit goes to UMA bowlers whose tight bowling line and length tied Blues together.
Kaisar claimed 2 wickets for 36 runs. Shafiq and Akbar had wicket apiece for 4 and 27 runs, repsectively.
Shafiq (49-2 fours as well as a six) and Kaiser (39-one six) played responsible innings enabling UMA to register their victory against Deccan Blues. Deccan Blues’ Bashir who claimed 3 victims for 33 runs created panic in UMA camp. He bowled to his field and made UMA batsmen to fight for each run. Akabar (11), Liaqat (11), and Rizwan (13 no) were other notable contributors.
Wasif sparkles for Kanoo against Tamer
Tamer who has been promoted to Division One after the conclusion of last league tasted defeat at the hands of Kanoo. Inspite of 110 runs by Wasif, Tamer managed to restrict Kanoo to 183 runs but it was bowled out for 137 runs.
This match was singlehandedly won by Wasif. He scored 110 runs and grabbed four wickets for 15 runs only. His innings was studded with 9 boundaries and 4 towering sixes. He retired when his legs gave up. M. Tayyab hit one boundary and a six in his 30. Nadeem Amin coming lower down the order contributed 15. Kanoo scored 183 runs in their alloted overs. Syed Noor was pick of the bowlers claiming 2 scalps for 21 runs and ran out Aslam. Siraj had one wicket. In reply, Tamer batsmen had to face Wasif again. He simply tied them and grabbed four wickets for 15 runs only. Nadeem Amin (2 for 21) and Aslam (2 for 31) were on target. Anwar (34) and Noor (28) applied themselves and stayed at the wicket. Siraj (13), Osman (02), Pervaiz (19), Afrouz (6), Majed (10), Abid (03), Haroon (4) and Muqeet made the procession. Tamer was bowled out for low score of 137 runs.
Adamjee Insurance register win over Team DDB
Adamjee Insurance posted a daunting tally of 220 runs and Teem DDB managed 160 runs only in reply. Imran Junior was bowled for a duck but Nadeem Nadvi (70-4 fours and a six) and Irfan (53-3 fours) put up 142 runs 2nd wicket patnership which enabled their team to post 220 runs for 4 wickets. Both were in good form and played confidently. Yaseen and Naveed remained unbeaten with 18 and 24 runs respectively. Hussain (2 for 39) and Shafiq (2 for 54) shared the wickets.
Facing an uphill target Teem DDB were always behind the asking rate though Shafiq (43), Anees (35) and Zeeshan (24) played aggressively. Teem DDB could only muster 160 runs. Saleem (3 for 42) was most impressive bowler. Naveed, Nadeem, Irfan, and Yaseem claimed one victim each.
Dabbagh beat UNASCO
Dabbagh set 178 runs target for victory to UNASCO who was shot out for 126 runs. Naeem (27-4 fours), Shakeel (35-4 fours), Yasim (17), Imran (13) and UNASCO’s contribution of 46 extras enabled Dabbagh to post challenging total of 177 runs. Wasim picked 3 scalps for 25 runs but could not control his line. Arif (2 for 11) was economical. Afzal, Ashraf, and Ravi had one wicket each.
In reply, UNASCO was bowled out for 126 runs. Yaseen (2 for 11), Asghar (2-32), Shakeel (2 for 28) were difficult to get away. UNASCO batsmen did not help their cause by panicking and playing reckless shots. Rafi and Ravi were run out. Arif Nazeer (32), Altaf Mirza (21) and Khalid (13) reached double figures.
Shalimar triumph over Red Sea Paints
Shalimar needed 160 runs for victory against Red Sea Paints which it managed for the loss of 5 wickets.
Red Sea Paints innings revolved around Shakeel (71) whereas others could not stay long. He was model of concentration and picked the right ball to hit.
He blasted 7 hits to the rope but accumulated his runs in twos and threes. scored 21 and Navid contributed 18. Zain bowled good line and was rewarded with 3 wickets for 30 runs. Nabil, Zulfiqar and Amir had one wicket each.
Naveed (38-5 fours) and Zain (19) provided start of 51 runs. Rahat went without scoring. Qasim (21) and Qamar (37 n.o.) partnership was worth 40 runs. Nabil (21 n.o.) joined Qamar and took Shalimar to victory without any further loss. Ejaz (2 for 34) and Muneer (2 for 29) were successful bowlers.
