JEDDAH: After 110 matches and 12 weeks of entertainment the fifth season of Jeddah Champions Trophy has finally reached its business end and yet again it’s the last season runnerup — Hyderabad Royals — who will take on new comers and cricket enthusiasts Reliance Cricket Team in the grand finale to be played today.

On a day when hundreds of supporters gathered to cheer their favorite teams in the semifinals, it was Hyderabad Royals and Reliance who showcased some merciless performances to stun their opponents in typical one-sided matches which has been their trademark over the course of the tournament.

In the semifinals though, Reliance put in a superb display of bowling and fielding to bundle out their opponents KSA Blue to a mere 64 inside 14 overs with their top all-rounder Maaz picking up 4 wickets. Then in reply were off to a fabulous start thanks again to Man-of-the-Match Maaz who scored a quick-fire 21 runs before being 3rd man out with his team just 10 runs away from registering their first spot in the final. But the captain of KSA Blue had some different ideas as he picked up 4 wickets in the space of 10 balls to send some nerves chilling in the opposition ranks. But it proved to be too late and too little as Reliance team Captain Arfaz Ghani made sure there were no more hiccups as he saw his team home with 3 wickets to spare.

In the second semifinal, soft ball cricketing giants Hyderabad Royals made a meal out of a depleted JWC bowling attack to post an above par 121 runs in 15 overs. JWC having won the toss decided to put their opponents in to bat first and it looked a good move as Hyderabad were reduced to 12 for 3 in the first 3 overs. But some disciplined batting by Man-of-the-Match Fasi who scored an unbeaten 39 and his partnership with the hard hitting Irfan khan made sure that they reached a platform from where they could dictate terms. Finally a quick-fire cameo by Abrar in the final overs made sure that JWC were left chasing a mammoth total. In reply though JWC could not do much as a strong bowling performance by Hyd Royals bowlers lead by Kamran who picked up 3 wickets made sure that JWC were never in the hunt as they were finally restricted for 80 to give Hyderabad Royals their second straight enter into the final.

The grand finale today will be followed by the presentation ceremony to be held at Al Mansour Function hall at Falasteen Street in Jeddah with some of the prominent personalities expected to arrive as guests.

The tournament is organized by team Azizia Deccan under the sponsorship of Ford Al-Jazirah vehicles and co-sponsorship of Trevi ASC (Trevi Group), E-Lounge, Spice Sense, and Unimac with MOA digital outdoor media as its advertisement partner.

Brief scores:

Hyderabad Royals 121 for 6 in 15 overs: (Fasi 40 not out, Irfan Khan 25, Faisal 2 -10) beat Jeddah Warrior CC 80 for 9 in 15 overs: (Hanif 23; Kamran 3-14, Imtiyaz 2-6) by 41 runs.

Man-of-the-Match: Fasi.

Blue 64 in 14.3 overs: (Talah 16; Maaz 4-7, Arfaz 2-8) lost to Reliance CT 65 for 7 in 10.1 overs (Maaz 21, Sattar 18; Hashmath 4-7) by 3 wkts.

Man-of-the-Match: Maaz.