JEDDAH: Youthful Mohammad Harasani Architects (MHA) shocked favorites ARM by 23 runs to clinch the MoneyGram Cricket Ke Badshah Premier League Twenty20 title, held under the auspices of Saudi Cricket Center and organized by the Jeddah Cricket Association, at the Usfan Cricket Complex here.

Pakistan Green took third spot after they routed ICAD by seven wickets. Reel & Rom got the better of Peeran Warriors by 8 wickets to finish fifth while Warriors took the sixth.

MHA got off to a flying start and put up 70 runs after the first six overs. Shad laid the foundation with a brilliant 29 off 17 balls. He was well supported by Hazrat Ali’s (37). Zia-Ul-Haq scored a brisk 37 off 18 balls while Adil (26) and Riyaz Afridi (16) propped up the innings.

Nazeer bagged 2 for 30 while Zeeshan had 3 for 31. MHA managed to go past the 200 mark and finished with 209 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply ARM openers were bogged down with pace and spin attack. The bowlers took full advantage of the strong breeze blowing across and restricted ARM to 35 for 1 after six overs.

Later, Tabrez and Sami opened up and started playing aggressive strokes as the run rate crept up. Sami perished for 33 and Tabrez for a solid 47 runs. Thereafter, wickets kept falling at one end while skipper Nazeer went after the bowlers at the other and scored a breezy knock of 59, which was not good enough as his team managed 186 for 8 to fall short by 23 runs.

Riaz Afridi (2 for 25) and Adil (2 for 30) did most of the damage. Zakir and Abdul Ghafoor chipped in with a wicket each.

MHA will now join the champion teams from WPCA, RCA, RCL, EPCA and other organizations that will take part in the Champions League, which will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis and decide the MoneyGram champions of Saudi Arabia.

In the match for the third position, Pak Green beat ICAD by 7 wickets. ICAD were all out for 118 runs. Irfan (25), Mohsin (28) and Faraz (23) were the main contributors. Asim (4 for 25), Rana Shahzad (2 for 23) and Faisal (2 for 18) tied down the batsmen with some accurate bowling.

In reply Pak Green made light work of the target and reached 120 for 3. Amer Shahzad scored an unbeaten 50 while Rana Shahzad got 30. Irfan picked up 2 for 23.

In the match for the 5th and 6th positions, Reel & Rom scored an eight-wicket win over Peeran Warriors who were restricted to 130 runs after 13 overs. Hussain (38) and Waqas (34) were the main run getters. Waheed (3 for 22) and Bilal (2 for 37) did most of the damage. In reply Reel & Rom scored 133 for 2. Waheed scored a brilliant 88, which came off only 22 balls. Irfan gave him company with 24 off 6 balls.

During the prize distribution ceremony,

Nadeem Nadwi of Saudi Cricket Center who was the chief guest, thanked JCA for having successfully organized the tournament in a professional manner at the Usfan Cricket Complex.

Nadwi also all praised JCA President Mohammed Iqbal under whose leadership the executive committee did a good job, specially Aijaz Khan, Haroon Abdulla, Akhtar Hussain and Syed Ashfaque Hussain in conducting and organizing the matches over a period of 3 months.

Nadwi later gave away the trophies to the teams and individual players.

The winning teams were rewarded with a cash prize of SR 5000, runner-up SR 3,000 and individual awards of SR 1,000 each to the man-of-final, man- of-Tournament, best bowler and best batsman.