By Dr. Sayed Ziauddin

JEDDAH — Zultec scraped through against Crown Steel, IDB Group lost to Nesma despite Usman Gulab’d ton, APF won against Reel and Rom Spikes, Zultrack beat ALS Warriors, SGMI Nestle Milo thrashed Al-Kabbani and Red Sea ALJ downed Alhamrani Fuchs in WPCA Garameesh Rusk Super League 2017 mainly sponsored by Garameesh Rusk and co-sponsored by Advisor 360, Crown Steel, Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC), Cool & Cool, Zultrack, Lays and Nesma Holding.

Zultec beat Crown Steel by 2 runs. Zultec slammed 200 for 7. Waqar Ahmed hit 34 as he added 60 with Anis Malik 25. Skipper Shahbaz Rasheed blasted 92 in 40 balls with 6 sixes and 9 fours. He stitched 102 in 49 balls with Abu Huraira (22). Shoaib Ali scalped 3-34, Imran Yusuf 2-28, while Junaid and Amjad Jutt claimed one wicket each.

Crown Steel responded with 198 all out. Asif top scored with 80 in 46 balls with 3 sixes and 8 fours, Amjad Jutt 37 and Javed Iqbal 25. Crown Steel which was 195-7 at the end of the 19th over, could not score 6 required runs in the final over.

Man of the Match: Shahbaz Rasheed.

Red Sea ALJ defeated Alhamrani Fuchs by 19 runs. Red Sea ALJ piled up 168. Ghayour hit 29. He added 62 with Zeeshan 38. Bilal made 32 and Amir 20. Mohsin grabbed 4-28, Adnan 3-23, Zeeshan 2-28 and Ehsan 1.

Alhamarni Fuchs was bowled out for 149. Ghafour hammered 54 in 37 balls as he first added 50 with Zeeshan (25) and then 69 with Adnan (22). From a commanding position of 129-2 Alhamrani Fuchs lost 8 wickets for 20 runs. Bilal took 3-34, Tanveer Zamane 3-24, Arif 2-23 and Amir 2-24.

Man of the Match: Bilal Kiyani.

Nesma Holding prevailed over IDB Group by 5 wickets. IDB Group posted 174 for 6. Usman Gulab blasted his third century 105 with 12 fours and a six. He stitched 122 in 79 balls for the opening stand with Noor Butt (37). IDB Group lost 3 wickets at the score of 122 after the opening pair was sent back. Zafar took 3-25, Rana 2-29 and Saqib 1.

Nesma Holding reached 180-5 in 112 balls. Abrar hit 52 in 33 balls as he added 80 with Furquan (30) after the team was struggling at 10-2. Salim Mehar hit a match-winning unbeaten 50 in 22 balls, Tasleem 17 and Saidul unbeaten 17. A wicket each was taken by Abdullah Shah, Arif, Usman Gulab, Abdullah and Azhar.

Man of the Match: Saleem Mehar.

APF trounced Reel & Rom Spikes by 20 runs. APF produced 146 for 5. Hasnain Ali hit 50 in 48 balls as he added 103 in 73 balls with Majed Khan who hammered 60 in 43 balls. Siddique made 19. Mustafa Khan took 3-15 and Junaid 2-30.

Reel & Rom Spikes was bundled out for 126. Junaid scored 19 and Wajid 16 and there were 26 extras. Siddiq took 2-16, Fouad Khan 2-28, Majed Khan, Ali Ansar and Wasiq a scalp each.

Man of the Match: Majed Khan

Zultrack thumped ALS Warriors by 34 runs. Zultrack racked up 217 for 5. Mohsin hit 28 to add 102 in 54 balls for the first wicket with Omar Mukhtar who smashed 82 in 43 balls with 4 sixes and 8 fours. Kashif belted 72 in 36 balls to stitch 76 with Hassan (23). A scalp each went to Faheem, Haleem, Mustafa and Hamza.

ALS Warriors got stranded at 183-9. Abdullah Essa top scored with 73 in 36 balls as he added 107 in 64 balls for the third wicket with Gulam Mustafa (30). Mohammed Khan stroked 15 and Faheem Afrad 18. Waheed took 3-37, Butt 2-35, while Amjad, Yasir, Sabaiyyal, Qaim Khan and Kashif got one each.

Man of the Match: Omar Mukhtar.

SGMI Nestle Milo humbled Al-Kabbani Cricket Group by 89 runs. SGMI Nestle Milo plundered 226-4. Fayyaz Afridi smashed 74 in 36 balls as he first added 71 with Naeem Malik (32) and then 62 with Imran Sarwar (22). Mohammed Yasir remained unbeaten on 58 off 27 balls, Sher Bahadur hit 16 and Ehsan Noni an unbeaten 16. Asad and Anwar took one wicket each.

Al-Kabbani Cricket Group could manage 137 for 8. Nasir made 17, Shahzad 19 and Sohail 16. Nadeem Shabbir claimed 3-29, Osama Amjed 2-28, while Imran Sarwar and Ehsan Noni took one wicket each.

Man of the match: Nadeem Shabbir.