By Dr. Sayed Ziauddin

JEDDAH — Zultec defeated ALS Warriors in the final to win the SCC Premier Challenge Cup organized by Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) here.

ALS Warriors opting to bat first in the final tallied an impressive 173-4. Opener Mohammed Khan was the top scorer with 58 runs in 37 balls. Talha added 37 and skipper Shoaib Ali 19. One wicket each was taken by Waqar ul Hasan, Wajahat Shah, Ehsan Noni and Abu Huraira.

Zultec, in chase, lost wickets at regular intervals but were cruising along well in the middle when Waqar and Usman were at the crease. Once these two were dismissed they lost wickets in a heap and looked vulnerable. The lower order batsmen succumbed to the pressure to slump to 170-8 from 165-5 requiring 4 runs from the last over with 2 wickets in hand. Zultec, however, reached 177-8 on the second last ball. Umair Ali Khan scored 32, Man of the Match Waqar ul Hasan 44 in 27 balls, Usman Gulab 42 in 24 balls and Abuhuraira a quickfire 14 in 6 balls with two towering sixes. It was left to Ehsan Noni to hit the winning run. Shoaib Ali took 3-30, while Haider claimed 2-28, Abdulaleem 2-30 and Safiurrehman 1.

Earlier, in the first qualifier of the playoffs, Zultrack put into bat by Zultec was bowled out for 130. Naeem Malik stroked 39 and Moazzam Shoukat 39 and the two added 78 runs. Once the openers were sent back Zultrack lost wickets in a heap for the addition of 52 runs as Zeeshan claimed 3-19, Abu Huraira 3-25 and Waqar 3-30.

Zultec had no problem to achieve the target — reached 131-4 in 87 balls. Amir Sajjad hammered 54 in 25 balls to add 80 with Umair Ali Khan (15). Usman Gulab remained unbeaten on 27. Naeem Malik scalped 2-26 and Imran Yusuf 2-28.

In the first eliminator, ALS Warriors racked up 209-2. Abdullah Essa smashed 80 in 40 balls and added 125 in 60 balls for the first wicket with Mohammed Khan (70 in 38 balls). Shoaib Ali remained unbeaten on 21 and Ramazan unbeaten on 23.

Alhamrani Fuchs, in response, was restricted to 149. Adil made 48 and Fayyaz 22. Shoaib Ali grabbed 3-5, Haider 3-23 and Majed 2-22.

In the second qualifier, Zultrack opted to bat first and made 154-9. Yasser scored 42, Imran Yusuf 26, Qaim Khan 24 and Naeem Khan 29 after they were struggling at 20-4 in the third over and at the end also it lost wickets in a heap. Ramazan took 4-36 and Shoaib Ali 3-36.

ALS Warriors, in chase, got to 156-3 in 103 balls. Abdullah Essa remained unbeaten on 78 off 55 balls with 9 hits to the ropes. He added 73 with Moiz (35) after they lost two early wickets of Mohammed Khan (8) and Talha (0) to be at 24-2. Ramazan scored 20 not out. Abdulwahid took 2-39.