By Dr. Sayed Ziauddin
JEDDAH - Indomie Universal United Cups, ATC, Al-Saudi Green and Sadafco came out on top to qualify for the semifinals of SCC Morning T20 Cup sponsored by Saudi Cricket Center.
While ATC will face Al-Saudi Green in the last four, Sadafco will take on Indomie.
Indomie trounced Nesma by 14 runs. Indomie Universal United plundered 187 for 8. Umair struck 47 in 24 balls as he added 87 for the first wicket with Tariq Siddiqui, who was injured after making 58. Ijaz Khan stroked 36.
Indomie lost 5 wickets for 18 runs. Zafran took 2-33, while Saleem Mehar and Zafar took a wicket each.
Nesma Holding, in reply, was in a commanding position at 166 for 5 but then it lost 5 wickets for 7 runs to lose by 14 runs. Saleem Mehar hit 62 to add almost a match-winning 51 with Rana (27) to get to 163 from 73-4. The top order failed as Furquan added 16, Saqib Butt 12, Tasleem 17 and skipper Sheraz 8. Umair claimed 3-28, Imran 2-37, Alam 2-24 as Ziyad and Owais claimed a wicket each. Hasnain and Mehboob supervised the match.
ATC thrashed ALJ Toshiba by 9 wickets. ALJ Toshiba was bundled out for 104. Its top order failed miserably as the team was tottering at 21-4 from where it could not rise. Bilal hit 22, Aamir 24 and Naveed an unbeaten 11 to get past the 100 mark. Babar took 3-18, Shahzad Khan and Abdulqayyum identical 2-19, while Adnan and Asif took one each.
ATC, in reply, reached the wining target of 105 for 1 in 61 balls. Usman Amjad smashed an unbeaten 50 as he added 77 for the opening stand with Babar Rana (36). Babar Mughal remained unbeaten on 19. Tanveer Zamane took one. Abdulsattar Babu and Rafiullah officiated the match.
Al-Saudi Green had the better of MFCC by 6 wickets. MFCC posted 157-6. Shafaqat scored 37, Waseem 10, Zia 41, Babar Ali 22 not out and Mahmood 27. Nadeem Saad grabbed 3-36, Adil 2-22 and Abbas Saad grabbed one wicket. Al-Saudi Green, in chase, reached home (161) for the loss of 4 wickets in 109 balls. Nadeem Saad with a fine allround performance smashed match-winning 67 with the help of 8 hits to the ropes. Mazhar Abbasi added 26, Faisal 25 and Owais remained unbeaten on 13. A wicket each was claimed by Mahmood, Sajjad, Shafaqat and Tayyab. Sohail Shah and Ishfaque were the umpires.
Sadafco had the last laugh against IDB by 44 runs. Sadafco piled up 188-7. Ahmed hit 36 as he added 103 for the first wicket in 53 balls with Zameer (58). Ali Jaan Mugheri contributed 21, Afridi 29 and Zubair 14. Quddus took 2-35, Mohsin 2-48, while Ozair and Zohair claimed a wicket each.
IDB, in reply, was bowled out for 144. Rizwan played a magnificent innings of 94 in 50 balls but wickets kept tumbling at the other end as none could touch the double digit mark except Bilal (18). Saqib was the pick of the bowlers with 4-23, Iqbal Patel 2-25 while a scalp each went to Afridi, Sajid, Tauseef and Abdulrehman. Ehtesham and Shabbir Kiyani were the umpires.
