Crown Steel sits atop Group A in WPCA Challenge Cup

Dr. Sayed Ziauddin JEDDAH — Crown Steel went atop Group A following third week matches of the WPCA Challenge Cup 2016 here. ALS Warriors defeated Jeddah Challengers by 85 runs. ALS Warriors piled up 185 for 7. Emad scored 41 as he stitched 85 with Talha (69). Abdullah Essa stroked 24. Farhan took 4 wickets for 31 and Omer 2. Jeddah Challengers was restricted to 100 for 5. Farhad made 20, Abdulazeez 22 and Farhan 27. Hyder had 2 scalps. Nesma Holding thrashed Thales Group by 6 wickets. Thales Group posted 146 for 9 with Mustafa making 29, Abdulbasit 25 and Sheraz 33. Rana Ibrar took 2 wickets. Nesma Holding reached 148 for 4 in 101 balls. Jawwad smashed 65 in 39 balls as he added 106 with Ben (55 not out). Al-Saudi XI trounced GBest IDB by 4 wickets. GBest posted 189 for 7. Junaid slammed 61 as he added 80 with Irfan Ayazuddin (31). Waseem then hammered 59. Amjad and Adil took two wickets each. Al-Saudi needed 90 balls to reach 190 for 6. Mazhar Abbasi blasted 66 in 21 balls with 12 fours and a six as he first added 50 with Fouad Shams (25) and then 67 with Humayun. Amjad remained unbeaten on 45. Muzammil grabbed 3-43 and Quddoos 2. Friends XI had the better of Awesome XI by 41 runs. Friends plundered 180 for 7 as Ali hit 38, while Niaz Ahmed remained unbeaten 35, Farzan 21 and Muzaffar 34 not out. Usman and Majid scalped 2 each. Awesome XI replied with 139 for 9. Raja top scored with 65. Wajahat Shah grabbed 3-33 and Umair 2. Nesma Holding downed ALS Warriors by 19 runs. Nesma Holding racked up 173 for 8. Ben smashed 52 as he added 116 for the 3rd wicket with Skipper Sheraz (61). Rana Ibrar compiled 33. Haider, Safiuddin and Talha grabbed 2 wickets each. ALS Warriors, in response, was bowled out for 154. Talha made 38 and Amjad Jutt 50. Zubair, Zafar, Sadaqat and Furqan bagged 2 scalps each. Crown Steel thrashed Thales Group by 8 wickets. Thales Group put on 141 for 4. Azeem remained unbeaten on 76 and Umar hit 25. Crown Steel reached 144 for 2 in 68 balls. Shafeeq Ahmed remained unbeaten on 38 as he added 50 with Shoaib Ali (41) and then 87 with Waqas Ausaf (54). Al-Saudi humbled IDB Group by 8 wickets. IDB scored 212 for 7 as Khawar Sohail belted 79, Rahat Ali Choudhry 56 and Usman Gulab 20. Adil notched 4-40 and Amjad 2. Al-Saudi, in reply, got to 216 for 2 in 99 balls, thanks to Mazhar Abbasi (83 not out), Fouad Shams (47) and Humayun (43). Friends XI had the last laugh against GBest IDB by 3 wickets. GBest produced 192 for 7, thanks to Amir Sajjad, who scored his second century of the tournament (121 in 58 balls). He added 64 with Irfan Ayazuddin (31). Muzaffar took 2 wickets. Friends XI was home (196) for the loss of 7 with one ball to spare. After being pushed to 26 for 3, Niaz Ahmed (57) played a gem of an innings with Wajahat Shah (54 not out). Muzaffar chipped in with 36. Uzair took 3-32 and Ishtiaq 2.