JEDDAH, 25 October — The 27th cricket season of Jeddah Cricket League (JCL) began with "Kanoo Cup 2002-2003" Tournament sponsored by Kanoo Group of companies Western Province.
In all 13 teams are participating in division-II, divided into two groups. Four top teams from each group with highest points shall qualify for knockout stage i.e. quarterfinals.
It is a 20 overs each side tournament. No bad light appeal will be entertained. It is the responsibility of umpires and captain to calculate playable overs in the actual time.
In the opening week matches of division-II, Nadir Toor, Saudia Majestique, debutant Sahari Pack and Saudi General Insurance (SGI) emerged victorious after fine-contested matches against Talha Optices, Saudia City, Al-Rabie Foods and KAIA respectively. At Hempel Paints ground Nadir Toor defeated Talha Optics by 19 runs. After winning the toss Nadir Toor elected to bat and scored 198 for 8 in allotted 20 overs.
None of their batsmen could stay at the wicket except opener Ghayour Abbas who carried the bat with a marvelous century 121 not out on 75 balls with the help of 2 sixes and 10 fours. Zahid Anwer-16 and extras contributed 38 runs. Zakir took 2 wickets for 27 runs.
In reply Talha Optics all out for 179 in 16 overs. Zakir-21, Afzal-20, Mubarak-13, Ramzan-24 Asif-17 and Anwer scored an exciting 57 (4 x 10) on 26 balls at number 10 but ineffective as spinners Ayzaz Toor and his teenager son Nadir Toor bowled devastating for 3 wickets each.
At Nestle Milo ground Saudia Majestique beat Saudia City by 8 wickets. Saudia City batted first and scored 153 for 6 in 18 overs. Opener Ghulam Qasim-68 (2 x 6 & 7 x 4) was the topscorer. Nasim-10, Aslam-13, Amjad-15, Mohsin-10 and Extras 17 were the other supporter of the total. Salim Bobat and Irshad Hussain took 2 wickets each for 21 and 33 runs respectively.
In reply the winner lost opener Zahid Hussain-11 at 21. Naem-52 (2 x 6 & 4 x 5) not out and Khalil Qazi-60 (2 x 6 & 10 x 4) batted uncompromisingly and added 85 runs for the 2nd wicket partnership in just 6 overs. Saudia Majestique reached the target in 11.2 overs for the loss of 2 wickets. Aslam and Qasim took one wicket each for 38 and 14 runs respectively. At Otis ground debutant Sahari Pack won by 66 runs against Al-Rabie foods. The winner batted first and scored 175 for 9 in allotted 18 overs even after loosing opener skipper Sadathullah for 6. The other opener Irshad-53 (4 x 4) and Amer Sajjad-74 (2 x 6 & 4 x 6) build the innings by adding 127 valuable runs at the second wicket stand. Siraj Karim Khan made 13.
Suranga and Hamdi Usmani bowled deadly. Both took 3 wickets for 36 and 34 runs respectively while Rohan Silva took 2 for 41.
In reply Al-Rabie could reach 109 for 8 in 18 overs. Hamdi Usmani-17, Afrooz-15, Manzoor Karimuddin-20 and Fernando-16 were the main scorers. Imran 2 for 29 and Siraj Karim 3 for 13 were the successful bowlers.
At Nestle Milo ground a brilliant batting performance by Azeem of SGI enabled an emphatic triumph over KAIA by 53 runs.
The winner batted first and put up a formidable total of 204 for 7 wickets in allotted 20 overs. Azeem scored 94 with the help of 3 sixes and 10 fours. He was unlucky to miss his century by six runs. Tariq-14, Abdul Rab-28, Kaleem-15 and Pervez-15 were other contributors.
Skipper Mir Saifullah and Zafer took 2 wickets each. In reply KAIA bowled out for 151 in 19.3 overs. Zameem Abdul Ghafoor-53, Tahir Majeed-18, Akber-14 and Mir Saifullah scored 14 not out.
