JEDDAH, 24 January 2003 — A record unbroken 150 runs partnership at the 2nd wicket between opener Tahir Majeed and Syed Noor Muhammad Shah facilitated King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) to beat Nadir Toor by 9 wickets and clinch a semifinal berth along with Saudia City who defeated Saudi General Insurance (SGI) by 34 runs in the 14th Kanoo League sponsored by Yousuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo group of companies -Western Province and conducted by Jeddah Cricket League (JCL).
At Khalid Kanoo ground, Nadir Toor opted to bat first. KAIA’s accurate bowling and excellent ground fielding put Nadir Toor in a spot of struggle. They removed 5 batsmen when score was only 56 on board. Aslam Zaheer, Zafer Khan and Muhammad Nasir Bafana took spectacular catches. Shahid Owais-46, Muhammad Tanveer-27, Nadir Toor-23, Zahid Riaz-21 and Farhan Razzaq-14 steadied the innings. Nadir Toor scored a competitive total of 163 for 9 in allotted 20 over. Zafer 3 for 30 and Aslam 2 for 28 bowled well.
In reply KAIA opener Tahir Majeed show the aggression with one down Syed Noor and hit a whirlwind unbeaten 100 included 5 mighty heaves over the fence and 11 crashing shots to the ropes. Noor cracked a brisk 49 with 8 boundaries.
The two batsmen added a record 150 runs for the second wicket and passed the target in the 14.2 over. At Saudia Milk ground, Saudia City won by 34 runs against top ranking team
from group “B” Saudi General Insurance (SGI). Skipper Junaid Arif Siddiqui won the toss and decided to bat first. Saudia City were all out for 193 in the allotted 18 overs. Openers Ghulam Qasim batted extremely well and scores 78 with the help of 8 fours. Nasim Khan-16, Miflal-23, Junaid-15, Amjad Pervez-17, Mazher-11 and Extras contributed 27 runs. Azeem and Mujeeb took 2 wickets each. In reply SGI could manage 159 for 6 in their allotted 18 overs. Azeem-37 was the top scorer. Abdul Rub-29, Shakeel-28, Ateeq-12, Kaleem and Mujeed remained not out with 28 and 6 respectively. Nasim bowled well and took 3 wickets for 26 runs. Mazher grabbed 2 wickets. (Syed M. Mussarat Khalil)
