By Dr. Sayed Ziauddin

JEDDAH — After the last week’s pool matches, Crown Steel, Aftab CC, Zultec, Nesma Holding, SGMI Nestle Milo, Red Sea ALJ, ALS Warriors and Timex Lothers qualified for the knockout stage in the WPCA Garameesh Rusk Super League 2017, sponsored by Garameesh Rusk and co-sponsored by Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC), Crown Steel, Zultrack, Cool & Cool, Thales Group, Nesma Holding and Lays.

AOT was declared winner against Reel & Rom Spikes.

IDB Group thrashed APF by 9 wickets. APF was restricted to 92 for 8. Nadeem scored 16 and Ashraf 27. Abdullah Shah bowled well to grab 3-7, Samer 2-9, while Usman Gulab, Hamdan and Irfan Shah got a scalp each.

IDB Group, in chase, reached 94 for 1 in 55 balls. Usman Gulab hammered 44 to stitch 52 with Noor Butt (13). Irfan Shah blasted an unbeaten 39. Majed took the only wicket to fall. Man of the Match: Abdullah Shah.

Alhamrani Fuchs trounced Zultrack by 50 runs. Alhamrani Fuchs amassed 199-6. Fuchs began disastrously as the top order caved in for 45 for 3. Then Saqib hammered 54 in 34 balls and Mohsin 76 in 46 balls to add 124 in 78 balls for the 4th wicket. Kashif took 2-28, Waqas 2-32 and Yasir 1.

In reply, Zultrack was restricted to 149 for 9. Kashif made 31 as Yusuf remained unbeaten on 45 and the two added 51 runs. Mohsin scored 35. Zultrack slumped to 149 for 9 from 121-2. Irfan Anjum took 3-20, Ahsan 3-33, while Khoban and Zeeshan claimed one wicket each. Man of the Match: Mohsin.

ALS Warriors thumped Aftab by 19 runs. ALS Warriors piled up 162-6. Gulam Mustafa was unlucky to miss his hundred as he slammed an unbeaten 94 in 58 balls with 2 sixes and 11 fours. He added 50 with Mohammed Khan (24). Farhan took 2-20, Shahriyar 2-26 and Aftab 2-40.

Aftab, in response, was bowled out for 143. Waqas Tufail stroked 30 as he stitched together 51 with Aftab Nayyar who made 50 in 28 balls. Waseem Farid hit 26. Gulam Mustafa scalped 4 wickets, Abdulaleem 2-28, Safiuddin 2-40 and Faheem Afrad 1.

Man of the Match: Gulam Mustafa.

Waqas Malik beat Al-Kabbani Cricket Group by 7 wickets. Al-Kabbani Cricket Group was bundled out for 118. Imran Qaiser stroked 21, Asad 28 and Zubair 26. Fiaz grabbed 4-15, Maqbool 4-26, while Danish and Atif Ali got a scalp each.

Waqas Malik reached 119-3 in 96 balls. Danish hit 48, Abdulrazzaq 16 and Maqbool an unbeaten 37. Asad scalped 2-34 and Jameel 1. Man of the Match: Maqbool.

Crown Steel had the better of Al-Safri by 5 wickets. Al-Safri was stranded at 132-7. Moon Shah stroked 21 as he added 61 with Rehan who made 34. Abid remained unbeaten on 24. Ijaz Sagheer took 3-17, Imran Yusuf 2-24 and Amajd Jutt 2-16.

Crown Steel made 133-5 in 89 balls. Khurram Karamat compiled 30, Amjad Jutt an unbeaten 33, Anwaar Chandi 23 and Asif 15 not out. Usman and Abid had identical figures of 2-33 and Rehan took 1 wicket. Man of the Match: Amjad Jutt.

Timex Lothers crushed MCC by 57 runs. Timex Lothers mustered 160-7. Ibrar-ul-Haq top scored with 63 in 33 balls, Jafar Hafiz hit 24 and Umair an unbeaten 20. Mahfouz had 2-28, Usman 2-35, while Abdul Ghafour and Khalid Butt took one wicket each.

MCC, in response, was restricted to 103-9. Khalid Butt scored 28. Moazzam Shoukat took 3-9, Ali Shah 2-7, while Waqas, Ali Ahmed, Jafar Hafiz and Ibrar-ul-Haq took one wicket each. Man of the Match: Ibrar-ul-Haq.