JEDDAH, 23 January 2004 — Kanoo Group and Commercial lost their last league match but still managed to enter the finals of the 6th Kanoo Inter Division Cricket League with Finance and Travel playing for the 3rd position. In the 6th week matches Travel recorded their second win defeating Group comfortably by 4 wickets whereas Finance gave Commercial a scare beating them by 3 wickets. In the 5th week Group ran through Finance by 8 wickets whereas Commercial continued their winning spree defeating Travel by 7 wickets.
Fifth Week Matches:
Kanoo Group Run Through Finance:Finance were all out for 101 runs in 14.4 overs. Dinesh struck gold as he dismissed Merchant for a duck and ended with figures of 2 for 30 whereas Ayub mopped up the middle order to pick up 3 for 7. For Finance only Ehtesham with a fluent 30 offered some resistance. Group then reached the target, hitting 102 for 2 in 11.5 overs. Ayub was unbeaten with 50. He was given admirable support by Yunus, who scored a quick 31.
Kanoo Commercial Upset Travel’s Hope: Kanoo Commercial upset the hopes Travel may have had of making it to the finals by bundling them out for 83 and then going on to score 85 for 3 in 13.5 overs. Travel suffered a setback as their all rounder Syed Rashid had to withdraw from the tournament due to a fracture. Although he did bat in this match and managed to score 21 runs with one hand, only Aleem (20) lent support against the accurate bowling of Fazlullah, who picked up the league’s second hat trick (3 for 29). Vasiullah picked up 4 for 21 to become the leading wickettaker of the league. Commercial knocked off the runs with skipper Shafi Khan remaining unbeaten with 41 runs. Aslam picked up 3 for 16.
Sixth Week Matches:
Kanoo Finance Give Commercial a Scare: Kanoo Finance restricted Commercial to 93 for 4 in 13 overs but the last two overs resulted in 22 runs as Commercial went on the rampage to end at 115 for 6. Shafi batted sedately for his 46 and Irshad (12) gave him good support as Waheed picked up 3 for 26. Finance required to score 116 in 10.5 overs at almost 11 an over and started positively taking 10 an over as opener Merchant (13) and Nasir went for the kill. Waheed and Ashfaque accelerated the scoring with some lusty hitting. Ashfaque hit 27 with 3 sixes and a four and Waheed hit 2 fours and a six in his 28. At one stage Finance required 20 in 10 balls but Commercial bowlers picked up vital wickets which ended Finance’s hope of reaching the finals although they went on to win the match scoring 118 for 7 in 12.2 overs i.e. 8 balls more than the asking rate. Irshad (3 for 26) and Vasiullah (2 for 27) shared the spoils.
Kanoo Travel Beat Group: Kanoo Travel won their second match, successfully chasing the highest total of league of 134 for 6. Aleem (37) and Altaf (37) went on a spree. Travel reached the target of 134 for 6 in 13.1 overs as Dinesh picked up 3 for 24. Earlier, Group managed to score 133 for 7 with Ayub remaining unbeaten with 53 runs. Azhar scored 25 runs. Aleem took 3 for 23 and Nayyar had 2 for 30.
