Saudi Arabia: Domestic wrap

Saudi Milk Cricket Club has snared one of the country's premier domestic prizes with its win last Friday in the final of the Fuchs Cricket Trophy tournament.

Saudi Milk took out the final over Mehran Cricket Club in the 20-over-a-side event which attracted a field of 20 teams.

It was one of the last major matches of the Saudi Arabian cricket season, following Riyadh's recent win over Yanbu in the prestigeous inter-city match. The Riyadh squad was: Owais Ahmed (Captain), Nadeem Baber (Vice-Captain), Arshad Mahmood, Muhhamad Khalid, Muhhamad Afzal Pasha, Jameel Abdul Hafiz, Shah Jahan, Saleem Javaid, Shazad Bashir, Ejaz Anwar, Asif Kazmi, Muhhamad Asif Amin, Raza Khan and Muhhamad Waseem.

The season began in September.

Riyadh and Yanbu are among the five associations belonging to the game's ruling body, the Saudi Arabia Cricket Board (SACB), which also includes the Jeddah Cricket League, Nadinah Cricket League and Eastern Province Cricket Association (EPCA).

The EPCA includes teams from Damman, Khobar, Hofuf and Jubail.

SACB official, Mr. Shamshad Ali Siddiqui, reports on the semifinal and quarterfinal stages of the Fuchs tournament.

"In the first semifinal, Mehran beat the powerful Carrier lineup by 43 runs. Batting first, the victorious side made 211 all out. Muhhamad Ali was their highest run maker with 53. Sajjad Ali contributed with 43. The other main scores were Rashid (29), Rahat (17), and Asad (12). Sallem captured two wickets for 39, while Bukhtiar and Zulfikar had one each for 31 and 29 respectively.

Chasing the target, Carrier was bundled out for 168. Zulfiqar resisted to some extent with his knock of 43. Of the others, Bukhtiar made 31, Mumtaz (21), Asif Kazmi (19), Arshad (12) and Saleem (17).

For the winners Sajjad Ali bagged 3-29 and was declared Man Of The Match for his all round performance. Shah Jahan 2-21 and Rahat picked up 1-31.

The second semifinal showdown saw Saudi Milk defeating Pak Shaheen by 26 runs.

The winnig side opted to bat first after winning the toss and made 189. Arif Mahmood played beautifully for his 60 runs.

The others amongst the runs were Hammad (33), Khalid (32), Nazir (26), Abdul Jabbar (14) and Arif Nawaz (10).

Awais Ahmed and Muhhamad Owais bagged two wickets each for 30 and 32 runs. Khalid claimed 1-32.

Pak Shaheen, going for the winning mark, was allout for 163. Openers, Ahmed made 26 and Whahab were out for 18. The other major contributors were Khalid Aijaz (24), Maqbool (21), Imran (23), Khalid (19), Amjad (15) and Kareem (10).

For the victors, Waseem did well with the ball, claiming 3-23. For his achievements, he was declared the Man of the match. Of the others, Munawar and Rana took two wickets each for 34 and 24 runs.

Four other teams that earlier reached the quarter-final stage were Al-Hamra restaurant, Saqib, Pakistan International Airlines and Saudi America Bank (SAMBA).

In the first action of the day, Pak Shaheen defeated Al-Hamra.

Saudi Milk beat Samba in the second encounter by 73 runs. Winning the toss and batting first, the victor, boosted by a century by Khalid Mahmood, made 212-8. The century maker played well and had a major role in the milk mens' triumph in the end.

Hammad also did fine to contribute valuable 64 runs and Nazir added 19. Rashid captured two victims for 42. Irfan and Raza Rehman shared one wicket each for 50 and 32 runs.

Chasing the target, Samba were shot out for 139. Javaid (41), Raza (23), Irfan (17) and Daniyal (15 not out) were their major contibutors to the scores.

Munir Rana bagged 3-26. Nazir was however, the most succesful bowler, taking 4-21. Waqar nabbed 2-35."