Apna Ghar to face Saliheen for Cup

Aijaz Ahmed Khan

JEDDAH — Saliheen and AGIC (Apna Ghar India Club) set up Jotun League final beating MHA and Mazco in the semifinals here recently.

While semifinals saw Saliheen easily beat MHA by 25 runs, AGIC struggled to beat Mazco by eight runs in the tournament sponsored by Jotun Saudi Arabia and organized by the Jeddah Cricket Association.

The first match saw Saliheen bat first. It was bundled out for 212. Amjad 83 (6x6s and 7x4s) led from the front. Qasim later added 21, Irfan 38 and Amjad Senior 34 to help their teams cross the 200 mark. Sami, Abdul Rahman and Sajid claimed two wickets each for 46, 25 and 34 runs, respectively.

Amanullah and Shad bagged a wicket each. In reply, MHA put up a spirited fight-back to reach 187, but the asking rate was too high and it lost by 25 runs. Abdul Sami (40), Khalil (32), Mayraj (16) and Sher (18) were among the runs. Irfan claimed 3-26, Hafiz had 2-9 and Bilal 2-27.

The other match saw AGIC score 183-7. Abdul Wasay scored 53 (9x4s). Sami added 42, while Rana (20) and Khan (20 not out) gave good support. Faisal 2-31 and Mahmud 2-40 were among the wickets. Maazco, in reply, fought to the end, but fell short of the target, ending its chase at 175 to lose by eight runs. Naseer hit 39 (4x4s and 1x6), Sabir 31 and Tabassum 26. Umar took 3-29, Sami 2-14 and Abdul Wasay 1-25 to hand AGIC a place in the final.

In the fight for the consolation cup, Pak Young beat KAIA by five wickets. KAIA scored 107 — Sangeen (35) and Sheraz (18). Riaz Afridi took 4-13, Amanullah 2-30 and Takdeer 3-14. Pak Young reached the target (108) for the loss of five wickets with Yahya scoring 32. Mahboob took 2-35.

In the other match JPCC beat IBS by 44 runs. JPCC scored 201-6 - with Saleem, Shareef, Malik and Adil doing the bulk of scoring, while Naeem picked up 2-18. IBS scored 157 with Nadeem scoring 55, Shakeel (30) and Afsar (37). Asif Mujtaba took 4-10, Saleem 3-30 and Shafiq 2-38.