By Dr. Sayed Ziauddin
JEDDAH — Nadeem Saad steered Al-Saudi Green against Black Hawks while Abdulrehman of Stallions blasted 117 to win against AGA in the Summer Morning semifinals, while in the Summer Afternoon semifinal encounters Lothers won against Jotun Penguins and UCC trounced Contraco.
Shamsuddin and Aamir Mughal were the Men of the Matches in the Afternoon, while Nadeem Saad and Abdulrehman took the honors in the Morning. Finals will be played this Friday.
Black Hawks deciding to use the track first after calling the coin correctly, was restricted to 147 for 9 in the allotted 20 overs. Awais made 27 in 22 balls with 5 hits to the fence. He added 45 for the first wicket with Fahad who contributed 18 in 12 balls with one six. Ishfaque then belted 38 in 28 balls with 4 hits to the ropes to add 53 runs in 43 balls for the third wicket with Adnan who scored 21 in 20 balls with one six. Abdulrafay was run out for 11. Waqas took 3-25, Mazhar Abbasi 2-15, Munzir 1-22, Adil 1-30 and Nadeem Saad 1-35.
Al-Saudi Green went about the chasing in a truly professional way to get to 148 for 5 in just 84 balls with 36 balls to spare. Nadeem Saad smashed 59 in 37 balls with 7 boundaries as he first added 50 runs in 35 balls for the opening stand with Kamran who made 19 in 20 balls with 3 fours and then 86 runs in 40 balls for the second wicket with Mazhar Abbasi who scored 38 in 22 balls with 2 sixes and 4 fours. Ashfaq grabbed 3-27, Arsalan 1-17 and Waqas 1-27.
Man of the Match: Nadeem Saad. Umpires: Rahat Ali Choudhry and Shareefuddin Padubidri.
Stallions won the toss to bat first and put on 196 for 6. Abdulrehman blasted 117 in 64 balls with 12 boundaries and a six. He first added 79 runs in 47 balls for the first wicket with Mansoor who scored 32 in 18 balls with 2 sixes and 3 fours and then 46 runs for the fourth wicket with Aqeel who made 13 in 13 balls. Yasir stroked 14 in 9 balls. Yasin took 3-31, Aslam 2-31 and Hassan 1-36.
AGA, in reply, was restricted to 108 for 9 to lose the encounter by 88 runs. Half the side was back in the pavilion at 45 for 5 as it lost wickets at frequent intervals to get crushed in the semis. Mizammil made 27 in 22 balls with 2 fours and Atef 18 in 9 balls with 3 fours as others failed. Jahanzeb grabbed 3-8, Talha 2-19, Faizan 2-24, while Hassan Ali and Jawad recorded identical 1-24.
Man of the Match: Abdulrehman. Umpires:
Nadeem Shabbir and Mohammed Saleem.
Contraco, opting to bat first after winning the toss, was bowled out for 156. Waseem stroked 53 in 23 balls with 5 sixes and 4 fours. He added 69 runs for the opening stand with Nadeem who made 22 in 25 balls. Moon Shah contributed 13. Contraco, 102 for 1 by the 10th over, lost wickets in heap to be 116 for 5 by the 13th over and lost the initiative gained by the opening pair. It continued to lose wickets at frequent intervals to be stranded at 156. Amir Mughal grabbed 4-25, Wajid 2-23, Sarfaraz 2-25 and Yasir Ameen 2-30.
UCC reached 157 for 7 in 116 balls to win the encounter by 3 wickets with 4 balls to spare. Ibrar remained unbeaten on 45 off 32 balls with 2 hits to the ropes as he added a match-winning 51 in 29 balls for the unbroken 8th wicket. Obaidurrehman scored 34 in 16 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours, Ahmed Faraz 27, Shahnawaz Khan 10 and Sarfaraz Riyaz 15 with one four.
Man of the Match: Aamir Mughal. Umpires: Ahmed Rafeeq and Mian Zafar.
Lothers opted to bat first and piled up 179 for 7. Khurram Azeez hit 48 in 26 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes as he added 74 runs for the first wicket in 55 balls with Yasar who made 26 in 31 balls with a six and a four. Shamsuddin topscored with 53 in 29 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours. Shahjahan remained unbeaten on 11 off 3 balls with a six and a four. Mohammed Akram took 4-32, Shabbir 2-16 and Khazim 1-23.
Jotun Penguins, in response, was bowled out 146 and lost by 33 runs. Ali hammered 60 in 45 balls with 2 sixes and 3 fours, Mazhar 24 in 9 balls with 2 sixes and 2 fours, skipper Shabbir 23 in 23 balls with one four and Qasim 16 in 12 balls with a six. Sheebu scalped 4-19, Pradeep 2-9, Babu tinku 2-22 and Sooraj 1-27.
Man of the Match: Sheebu. Umpires: Javed Iqbal and Noor Butt.
