JEDDAH, 2 January 2004 — The Jeddah Cricket League’s Under-19 tournament, sponsored by Arab News, began yesterday with matches played simultaneously at different grounds of the JCL Complex in north Jeddah. Eight teams from the registered clubs of JCL took part with their colt teams.
The teams are divided into two groups. Group A has four teams comprising Nadir Toor, Nestle Milo Young Athlete and SGB Baroom. Group B teams are Baber Toor, Sadafco, Saudia Milk and UMA.
The match of the day was at the Kanoo ground with Nadir Toor pipping Young Athlete by five runs. Nadir Toor decided to bat after winning the toss. In the allotted 18 overs they scored 151 for 3. Hasan scored 65 and Ethesham scored 25 runs. Usman and Waqas took one wicket each.
In reply, Young Athlete were paced by Salman, who batted very well for 63 runs, but once he was run out in the penultimate over, Nadir Toor squeaked through. In search of quick runs in the last over Young Athlete lost two more wickets to run outs. Shabeer 17 and Waqas 12 were the two other batsmen who reached double figures. Daniel, Ahsan, Noman, Ainar and Waqas each took a wicket. In the end a thrilling win for Nadir Toor by 5 runs. Umpires are from the senior teams of the JCL clubs.
Nadir’s Hat Trick Gives
Baber Toor a Big Win
At the Hempel Paints ground, Nadir Toor playing for Baber Toor Club took 5 wickets for 31, including a hat trick, to help his side register a comprehensive win against Saudia Milk. Baber Toor Club won the toss and elected to bat. In the allotted 18 overs they made 144 for 7. Nadir Toor (26), Rizwan (30) Naveed (15) and Siddique (45 n.o.) were the main run getters. Hussain 3 for 23 and Waheed 2 for 31 were the main wicket takers.
In reply, Saudia Milk were restricted to 122 for 9. Opener Hasnat scored 36, and Atif in the middle order made 27 runs. Coming in to bowl at the end of the innings, Nadir Toor completely took control of the match as he restricted runs and then grabbed 5 wickets to take the game away from Saudia Milk. Raheel 2 for 27 was the other successful bowler. A well-deserved 22-run victory for Baber Toor.
SGB Baroom Sail Past Nestle Milo
At the Nestle Milo ground, SGB Baroom beat Nestle Milo. Batting first, SGB Baroom pair of Ali brothers made sure that they built a respectable total for their team. Usman Ali (70) and Shoib Ali (47) were the main scorers for SGB, who reachrf 166 for 9 in the allotted 20 overs. None of the other batsmen could reach double figures. Taimoor took 2 wickets for 1 run while Sabih, Haroon, Amin and Abdullah shared a wicket each. There were three run outs.
In reply, Nestle Milo could only make 152 for 9. Qassim 52 and Taimoor 26 were the main scorers. Farhan 2 for 27, Nazeer 2 for 24 and Obaid 2 for 25 were amongst the wickets. SGB Baroom comfortably won the match by 14 runs.
UMA Send Sadafco on a Leather Hunt
At the Mahmood Saeed ground, UMA won the toss and elected to bat. From the word go they scored at will. Opener Anwar made a rapid fire 42 and one down batsman Omer Riaz delighted the crowed with some very fine batting. He hit two magnificent six in his knock of 72. Mehtab also scored a quickfire 51. UMA piled up 206 runs for 3 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Javed took 2 wickets and Bilal one.
In reply. Sadafco were bowled out for 138. Asad, who propped up the middle order, was the highest scorer for Sadafco making 29. Omer took three wickets for 23. Nasir took 2 wickets while Fahim, Aqeel and Omer T. took one wicket each. UMA outplayed Sadafco to record a 68-run win.
Meanwhile, JCL President Shahid Amin, said teams in each group will play round robin league matches, followed by the quarterfinal knockout stage in which winners of Group A will play the fourth position team from Group B, the second position team from Group A will play the third position team from Group B, the third position team from Group A will play the second position team from Group B, and the fourth position team form Group A will play the first position team from Group B.
The quarterfinal will be played on Jan. 22, the semifinals after the Haj on Feb. 12 and the final on Feb. 19.
Referring to Arab News sponsorship of the U-19 tournament, with matches between JCL clubs’ colt teams to be followed by the U-19 Inter-School tournament, Shahid Amin thanked the newspaper, and especially its Editor in Chief Khaled A. Al-Maeena, for making the event possible. “Khaled Al-Maeena, a patron of JCL, is himself a keen sportsman, who has played a pioneering role in introducing cricket here years ago with Zainal Alireza, also a JCL patron. Arab News is sponsoring the U-19 tournament for the fourth year in a row,” he said.
The Arab News sponsorship began in January 2000 with the first Inter-School U-19 cricket tournament. “This is the first time that the U-19 colt club tournament is being organized along with the U-19 interschool tournament. The interschool U-19 matches, which were scheduled to start along with this tournament, have been postponed at the request of schools due to the approaching final exam,” Shahid Amin said.
Both JCL patrons Zainal Alireza and Khaled Al-Maeena sent their best wishes and greetings to the JCL and participating teams, he added.
Fixtures for Next Thursday: Nadir Toor vs Nestle Milo, Hempel ground; Young Athlete vs SGB Baroom, Juffali ground; Baber Toor vs Sadafco, Nestle Milo ground; Saudi Milk vs UMA, Kanoo ground. All matches start from 1.30 p.m.
