Thrilling win for Nestle Milo

Dr. Sayed Ziauddin JEDDAH — Nestle Milo pulled off a thrilling win against Zultrack on the last ball, Marine Services defeated Jotun Paints comfortably, Lothers had the last laugh against Waqas Malik XI and UCC edged past APF by 7 runs to set up the semis lineup in the WPCA Afternoon T20 here. In the first quarterfinal, Nestle Milo pulled off a thriller against Zultrack by one run. Nestle Milo, opting to bat first, piled up 200-4, thanks to a classy innings by skipper Abdullah Zahid who anchored with an unbeaten 84 in 49 balls with 4 sixes and 6 fours. Azeem made 36, Imran Sarwar 27 and Fayyaz 23. Abdulwaheed took 2-40 and Muzaffar 1. Zultrack, in reply, lost wickets at regular intervals but kept the chase alive till the last ball. Requiring 10 runs in the final over with 3 wickets in hand it could make only 8 runs. Mohsin stroked 51 in 26 balls, Abdulrehman 45, Waheed 27 and Ijaz 15. Bilal Malik took 3-38, Adalat 2-28 and one wicket each to Imran and Abdullah Zahid. In the second match, Lothers trounced Waqas Malik XI by 7 wickets. After winning the toss, Waqas Malik XI posted 145. Rana Haroon made 74 in 43 balls with 9 fours and a six as he added 65 with Razaq (12) after they lost 4 wickets for just 38 runs. Adil remained unbeaten on 16 and Shahid 15 as none other could make double figures. Adarsh grabbed 3-17, Suraj 2-14, Fazil 2-18, while one scalp each went to Shamsuddin and Pradeep. Lothers reached 147-3 in 91 balls to book a place in the semis. Shamsuddin hammered a match-winning 86 in 47 balls with 13 fours and a six. He added 85 for the third wicket with Adarsh (32). Razaq took 2-28. In another quarterfinal match, UCC prevailed over APF by 7 runs. UCC opted to bat first and racked up an impressive 192-7. Irfan Ghulam stroked 22, Khubab 29 and Ahmed Faraz 22. Prolific Shahnwaz Khan hammered 79 in 39 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. Siddique grabbed 3-32, while one wicket each was claimed by Ahmed, Nabeel and Adnan. APF fell short by just 7 runs to be restricted to 185. Gulzar stroked 34 as he added 65 for the second wicket with Ahmed (32). Siddique was tragically run out for 47 off 27 balls and with that the chances for APF. After stitching 54 runs for the fourth wicket with Abdulbasit making 23, the team lost 6 wickets for 19 runs and was all out for 185 from 166 for 4. Sarfaraz scalped 3-7, Sheraz 2-28, Irfan 2-34 and Yasser 1 wicket. In the last match of the day, Marine Services thrashed Jotun Paints by 2 wickets. Jotun Paints, put into bat, was bowled for 146. Shabbir scored 15, Mazhar 18, Mohammed Shafiq 16, Sohail 17, Imran 15 and Hussain Ali 15. Yaseen grabbed 3-28, Majed 2-17, Yasir 2-23, Naseer 2-14 and Moiz 1 wicket. Marine Services responded with 148-2 in 91 balls. Majed Khan smashed a match-winning unbeaten 74 in 43 balls with 10 boundaries and 2 sixes. He first added 64 with Kashif (38) and then 54 with Sohail (17). Mohammed Shafeeq and Wajid Abbas took one wicket each.