Riyadh Cricket Association won both their matches in the intercity event against Yanbu Al Sinaiyah Cricket Association played at MYAS Cricket Ground in Yanbu recently.
In the first T20 day night match, RCA XI scored a thrilling two-run win over YACA XI. RCA XI captain Mohammed Nadeem Babar won the toss and elected to bat. RCA XI managed to put on board 138 for 8 from the stipulated overs.
Rizwan Manzoor held the innings together with a stubborn 36. He was supported by Salman Butt (23), Abdul Qadir (19) and Abbasi (17). Sarfraz got 2 wickets while Nadeem, Afzal and Naseem grabbed a wicket each. Chasing the target of 140, YACA XI started well but later on caved in to the rivals bowlers. Iftikhar top-scored with 40 runs; Sarfraz also played well and remained unbeaten on 34. Captain Babar led from the front and took 4 wickets with his brilliant spell of fast bowling, including a hat trick. Rizwan Manzoor and Abdul Wahab took a wicket each. RCA XI fielded excellently and took some brilliant catches. Abdul Salam in particular was brilliant in the field. Babar was declared Man of the Match.
In the 40-over match RCA XI again beat YACA XI by 19 runs. RCA XI captain Babar won the toss again and decided to bat and scored 261. Abdul Wahab was the highest scorer with 65 runs followed by Omar Zafar 60, Imtiaz Butt 33 and Muzaffar Majeed 22. Israr bowled well for YACA and took 5 wickets. Sarfraz chipped in with 3 wickets. YACA XI started their chase well and put 79-run partnership for the first wicket. However, after the fall of the first wicket they lost wickets at regular intervals thanks to fine bowling and fielding by RCA XI. Afzal was the highest scorer with 52 runs. Ahmedullah 46, Ijaz 38 and Abdullah 28 were the other who impressed. Zeeshan Haider destroyed the YACA XI batting line up by taking 5 wickets.
Muzaffar Majeed took 3 wickets. Kamran Hadi and Mohammed Nadeem Babar took a wicket each. Zeeshan Haider was declared Man of the Match. RCA patron, Mohammed Anwar and RCA President Tariq Javed congratulated the winners.
RCA triumphs in intercity event
RCA triumphs in intercity event
A powerful rivalry: Sabalenka and Svitolina set for Australian Open semifinal showdown
- Top-ranked Sabalenka, who is seeking a third title in four years in Australia, is from Belarus
- Players from Ukraine do not shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus at the net after matches
MELBOURNE: Naturally there’ll be attention on the backstory when Aryna Sabalenka and Elina Svitolina meet in the Australian Open women’s semifinals.
Top-ranked Sabalenka, who is seeking a third title in four years in Australia, is a 27-year-old from Belarus. She’s popular on TikTok for her humorous posts and dance routines.
Svitolina is a 31-year-old Ukrainian who will be returning to the Top 10 next week for the first time since returning from a maternity break she took in 2022. She reached her first Australian Open semifinal with a lopsided win over No. 3 Coco Gauff, needing only 59 minutes to end her run of three quarterfinal losses at Melbourne Park.
They’re both regularly asked questions relating to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Both have regularly said they want the focus to be on tennis. Svitolina is trying to bring joy to the people of Ukraine, of course. Sabalenka said she supports peace.
“It’s very close to my heart to see a lot of support from Ukrainians,” she said. “So I feel like (I) bring this light, a little light, you know, even just positive news to Ukrainian people, to my friends when they are watching.”
Players from Ukraine don’t shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus at the net after matches. It’s accepted on both sides.
They’re both on 10-match winning streaks so far in 2026 and entered the season’s first major with titles in warmup tournaments — Sabalenka in Brisbane, and Svitolina in Auckland, New Zealand, her 19th career title. That was Svitolina’s first foray back after an early end to the 2025 season for a mental health break.
Sabalenka, who has 22 career titles including back-to-back Australian championships in 2023 and ‘24 and back-to-back US Open triumphs in 2024 and last year, is 5-1 in career meetings with Svitolina. She is into the final 4 at a major for the 14th time, and has made the final seven times.
“It’s no secret that she’s a very powerful player. I watched a little bit of her (quarterfinal) match. She was playing great tennis, and I think, the power on all aspects of her game is her strengths,” Svitolina said of Sabalenka. “She’s very consistent. For me, I’ll have to ... try to find the ways and the little holes, little opportunities in her game.
“When you play the top players, you have to find these small opportunities and then be ready to take them.”
Svitolina is playing her fourth semifinal at a major — 2019 and 2023 at Wimbledon and the 2019 US Open — and aiming for her first final.
Sabalenka played her quarterfinal against 18-year-old Iva Jovic before the searing heat forced organizers to close the roof of the Rod Laver Arena stadium on Tuesday. She was long gone before Svitolina and Guaff played under the roof at night. At that stage, she didn’t know who she’d next be playing, but was sure “it’s going to be a battle.”
“Because whoever makes it there, it’s an incredible player,” she said. “I think my approach going to be the same. Doesn’t matter who I’m facing.
“I’ll just go, and I’ll be focused on myself and on my game.”
Rybakina-Pegula, 5 vs. 6
Sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula completed the final 4 when she held off fellow American Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 7-6 (1) to move into a semifinal against 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Pegula beat 2025 champion Madison Keys in the previous round before ending Anisimova’s run of back-to-back Grand Slam finals.
The sixth-seeded Pegula is hoping to emulate Keys’ run here last year and claim her maiden Grand Slam title in Australia.
“I’ve been waiting for the time when I can kind of break through,” Pegula said. “I feel like I really play some good tennis here and I like the conditions.”
With a 7-5, 6-1 victory in the center court opener Wednesday, Rybakina, the 2023 Australian Open runner-up, ended No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek’s bid to complete a career Grand Slam — at least for this year.
Rybakina, who was born in Russia but represents Kazakhstan, said she’d focus on the lessons she’d taken from previous trips to the deciding end of the majors.
“Now I’m more calm. In the beginning, when it’s the first final and you go so far in the tournament, of course you are more emotional,” she said. “Now I feel like I’m just doing my job, trying to improve each day. So it’s kind of another day, another match.”
