JEDDAH: The Saudi Premier League Twenty20 Cricket Tournament got off to a flying start as favorite Ace Tour & Travels routed ARM by 9 wickets at the Jeddah Cricket Association Complex.

In the other matches, Saudi Oil Company crushed Hyderabad Strikers by 6 wickets, Pepsi Deccan Knights beat Saudi German Hospital by 5 wickets, MB Stars got the better of ICAD by 29 Runs, Kashmir Stags breezed past Hyderabad Sharks by 88 runs and new entrant My Care Hala Blazers did well to beat Pak Green by 5 wickets.

Ace Travels Moazzam (108) scored the first century of the tourney followed by My Care Hala Blazer’s skipper Shaad Mohammad Khan (106) against Pak Green team.

The event is organized by the Jeddah Cricket Association, sponsored by Ace Travel & Tours and Initial Services Group as main sponsors.

Other sponsors include, ALS Borderless Logistics, Khind Electronic products for every man of the match, Saudi Industrial Projects Company for Pepsi, Arrow Food Distribution for MIZO juices and UT Lines.

Jaweed Munawwar (CEO of Riyadh Cricket League (RCL), Haneef Babar (Senior vice president RCL), JCA Chairman Dr. Faiz Al Abideen and Vice Chairman Humayun Farooq made this opening session a memorable occasion.

Also present were, co-sponsors representatives, Afzal Ahmed Shaikh of ALS Borderless Logistics and Khalid Yamani of Khind Electronics

Brief scores:

ARM 161 for 7: (Nazeer 57, Sami Khan scored 28, Athar Ali 25, Arshad 25; Abdul Wahed 3-33, Faheem Pasha 2-41) lost to Ace Travels 164 for 1 off 9.5 overs (Moazzam 108 not out, Abdul Wahed 51) by 9 wkts.

Man-of-the-Match: Moazzam.

Hyderabad Strikers 70 off 14 overs: (Anwar Khan 18, Abdul Quddus 12 runs; Ashiq 3-9, Meer Ayaz 2-3, Waqas 2-25) lost to Saudi Oil Company 71 for 4 off 12.1 overs: (Humayun Farooq 26 n.o, Salman 26; Abdul Quddus 2 -17) by 6 wkts.

Man-of-the-Match: Ashiq

Saudi German Hospital 159 for 8: (Jaweed 46, Taqi 48, Qadeer 25; Wajid Samdani 3-28, Syed Mohammad Afroz 3-19) lost to Pepsi Deccan Knights scored 160 for 5 wickets off 17.2 overs: (Najeeb 32, Wajid Samdani 28, Mazhar 23, Ba Hamed 27 n.o; Huzaifa 3-37)

Man-of-the-Match: Wajid Samdani

M B Stars 179 for 7: (Husnain 50, Murtaza 39, Akhter Mehmood 28, Zia Anwar 22, Moazzam 20; Waqas 2-39) beat ICAD 150 off 18.2: (Shakeel 28, Jintu 22; Ateeq Mansha 4-20 Moazzam 3-48, Zia Anwar 3-18) by 29 runs.

Man-of-the-Match: Zia Anwar

Kashmir Stags 188 for 6: (Waseem 77, Majid 44; Faheem 2-32, Mohammed 2-14) beat Hyderabad Sharks 100 off 12.1 overs: (Luqman 34; Majid Butt 4-25, Shabbir 3-31) by 88 runs.

Man-of-the-Match: Majid Butt

Pak Green 191 off 19 overs: (Rizwan 43, Shaan 31, Kamran 26; Zakir 3 for 27, Yaseen 2 for 47) lost My Care Blazers 192 for 5 off 15.3 overs: Shad Mohammed 106, Adnan Khan 56; Mohammed Zahid Pak Green 3 for 42) by 5 wkts.

Man-of-the-Match: Shad Mohammed.