RIYADH: Al-Kharj got off to a flying start when they got the better of Al-Majma’ah by 24 runs in a first round match of the inaugural Twenty20 Champions cricket tournament organized by the Riyadh Cricket Association in association with the Cricket Saudi International.

In the other matches, Dirab won a high scoring game against Huraymala by 6 wickets and Hayer routed Diriyah by 159 runs.

In the first match, Al Kharj elected to bat first and put on board 213 for 5. Bilal Wani smashed a brilliant 82. Mohammed Afzal supported him with a well-made 56 runs. Ayaz propped the innings with 39 runs. Ibrar, Dawood, Waheed, Mudasir and Saif took a wicket each.

Al Majma’ah made a good start but fell through later as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Their innings folded for 189 runs, which came off 18.4 overs. Waheed top-scored with 69 runs. Qadir (33) and Farooq (23) were the other contributors.

Muzaffar was the pick of the bowlers and bagged 4 for 33 runs. Imtiaz Butt was not far behind with 3 wickets.

Man-of-the-Match: Bilal Wani

In another encounter, Huraymala scored a formidable 224 for 7. Tila Yousafzai made a brisk 63. Asif Butt (44) and Nadeem Shah (32) were the other run getters. Saqib Saleem grabbed 2 wickets.

Dirab got off to a quick start through openers Nasir Abbasi (62) who looked in good touch and Waseem Jutt (52). Yassir and Irshad took the team to victory in 19th over with 41 and 39 runs respectively. Imran Younus took 2 wickets.

Man-of-the-Match: Nasir Abbasi.

In the last match, Altaf Tahir’s scored a match winning 105 to help Hayer put up 242 for 3. Ishaq Ahmed scored a brisk 85 off just 38 balls. Shoaib, Anis and Rustam grabbed a wicket each.

In reply Diriyah was all out for a paltry 83. Raza Husnain (19) and Rustam (12) did their best. Javed Khan and Altaf Tahir grabbed 3 wickets each while Wahid Ullah picked 2.