JEDDAH, 20 February 2004 — In 7th week matches of Jeddah Cricket League Friday League Division I sponsored by SGB Baroom, Juffali Michelin surprised Red Sea Paints. Deccan Blues registered a narrow victory against Saudia City. United Naghi LG suffered a defeat against Afkar Promo 7 and Kanoo Travel came up trumps against Shalimar Al Sharif and Tamer beat Nadeem Memorial.
In a crucial match for both teams, Juffali Michelin restricted the formidable batting line up of Red Sea Paints to 112 runs and then rattled up the required runs for the loss of 3 wickets and 7 overs to spare. Juffali Michelin bowlers were on top from the start. Hammad (3 for 20) drew dismissed Liaqqt for one and at the other end Manzoor (1 for 26) broke the castle of Shabbir (9). Hammad sent back Akram (16) and Shakeel (17) in quick succession and Red Sea Paints were 42 for 5. Saleem Butt (41 — 4 fours) and Mazahar (25 — 2 fours) added 73 but Zahid (2 for 27) ended Saleem and Mazhar's resistance. Akram then picked up Imran Ali and Ikram as Red Sea Paints managed 117.
Juffali Michelin lost Rizwan for 4 but Imran (26 — 3 fours) and Zahid (58 n.o. — 6 fours) played on unperturbed. Zahid was aggressive as Juffali needed to overhaul Red Sea Paints tally in less than 15 overs to qualify for the quarterfinals. Zahid's innings launched Juffali Michelin to victory in 14 overs. M. Hussain, Shabbir and Zubair claimed one wicket each.
Deccan Blues posted 145 runs in its allotted overs and then restricted Saudia City to 133 runs. A. Quddous (46 — one six and a four) and Razvi (15) provided a reasonable start. Deccan Blues then lost Shakeel (08), Shabbir, Raees (02) and Maroof (01) in quick succession and slumped from 58 for 2 to 80 for 6. Anees (28) and Rehan (15) rescued their team as Deccan Blues reached 145. Naseem (3 for 24) did most of the damage. Qasim grabbed 2 scalps for 27 runs. Then Saudia City began at a fair clip as Nasim Khan (18) and Qasim (55 — 5 fours and a six) put 60 runs for the opening wicket. But their exit saw a middle order cave-in and though Shehzad (23) and Javed (16) lost their wickets in pursuit of runs, Saudia City fell 12 runs short of their target. A. Quddous (2 for 21) and Rehan (2 for 16) stood out.
United Naghi LG were restricted to a modest 122 by Afkar Promo 7, who achieved the target for the loss of 3 wickets and with 5 overs to spare. United Naghi LG experimented with new batting order that failed to deliver and paid the price in the form of a heavy defeat. Abdullah Bajabar and Athar failed to open their accounts, but Arif Bajabar and Saleem Nahdi scored 29 and 16 runs respectively. Maqbool, coming lower down the order, topscored with 43 including 3 fours while Salem Amoudi contributed 13 in United Naghi LG's 122 runs. Rumais claimed 2 for 21 runs. Nabil, Zubair and Khalil had a wicket apiece. Facing a modest score of 123 for victory, Afkar Promo 7 batsmen Ali and Faisal blasted 79 runs in the first 6 overs. Faisal blasted 3 sixes and 5 fours in his knock of 45 scored of 16 balls. Ali contributed 24 including 3 fours. A. Qadir Rumais remained unbeaten with 22 as Afkar Promo 7 were home and dry in 14th over. Salem Amoudi (1 for 18) and Arif (1 for 27) picked up the wickets to fall.
Scores:
Shalimar 168 for 6 (Naveed 45, Abdullah 30, Shameem 3 for 42) lost to Kanoo Travel 171 for 3 (Amer 58, Rashid 27, Najam 52 n.o., Tahir 1 for 32, Zain 1 for 24).
Nadeem Memorial 104 for 8 (Khadim 27, Nusrat 26, Sajed 4 for 12, Anwar 3 for 22) lost to Tamer 106 for 1 (Anwer 37, Shumail 55 n.o., Abu Bakar 1 for 31).
