Aijaz Ahmed Khan JEDDAH — Deccan Knights bagged the ACE Travels & Tours Premier League Cup by beating ICC Irfan Basha in the final, while Kanoo beat Natco to finish third in the tournament, sponsored by the ACE Travels & Tours and organized by the Jeddah Cricket Association (JCA) here recently. ICC Irfan Basha opted to bat and posted 196-9. Babar and Azhar opened the innings. Sohail dealt two big blows in the third over by dismissing star batsman Babar for 2 and Azhar for 14 (3x4). Skipper Irfan Qureshi was also out after hitting a six and a four in his contribution of 13. After Sadiq (1) Moaiz (5) Attaur Rahman (9), Umar (3) and Nabeel (12) were sent back to pavilion in quick succession, the lower order batsman Raheel came to the team's rescue and played a sterling unbeaten innings of 102. Raheel hit 12 fours and 2 sixes and dealt all the bowlers with disdain. Sohail and Athar Abdul Quddus bowled menacingly and claimed 2 wickets each for 31 and 28, respectively. Inayat, Shoaib and Rabbani claimed one wicket each. Deccan Knights, in reply, scored 198-7 with an over to spare. Athar Abdul Quddus played a match-winning innings of 70 in 51 deliveries with 6 boundaries and a six. Sohail scored 18 (4x2). Najeeb contributed 26 (4x4) and Inayat 25. Attaur Rahman claimed 2-38. Nabeel and Umar took one wicket each. Three batsmen of Deccan Knights were run out and ICC conceded 22 extras to make things easy for Deccan Knights. In the match for the third position, Kanoo set a target of 294 to Natco. But Natco could manage only 199-4. After Kanoo lost Tabriz on the first ball, Rashid made 36 (6x4) in 21 balls. Sami was once again in fine form as he hammered 14 boundaries and 7 sixes in 50 balls for 133. Najam contributed 38 (4x5, 1x6). Arshad remained unbeaten on 65 (3x4, 6x5). Ashiq claimed 2-46. Faisal and Fahad took one wicket each. In reply, Fahad scored 33 off 18 balls (4x4, 1x6), Hasnain made 25 (4x3, 6x1), Ashiq 30 (4x6) and Butt 17. Kanoo gave away 32 extras. Muheeb, Rashid, Sami, Waseem claimed one wicket each as Natco folded for 199-4. During the prize distribution at the JCA Cricket Complex in Usfan, chief guest Shamshad Ahmed Khan of ACE Travels and Tours, Director of Finance for Western Region, expressed his satisfaction over the conduct of the tournament and also assured ACE Travels' support for future events. JCA President Mohammad Iqbal thanked the sponsors and teams, while Vice President Aijaz Ahmed Khan thanked the media and the executive committee members of JCA. A plaque of appreciation was given to the ACE Travels. Special service awards for the umpires Azam Khan and Kumar Krishnan. Amer and Hafez Sayeed were also given special awards. Performance awards: Winner — Deccan Knights Club; runner-up — ICC Irfan Basha; third position consolation cup - Kanoo Club; Man-of-the-Match (final) — Athar Abdul Quddus of Deccan Knights; batsman with maximum runs in the league — Shaan Manzoor Malik of Jawar Al-Jazira; batsmen with best average — Shan Manzoor Malik, Syed Mohammad Afroz, Mohammad Ayazuddin Irfan of Zinda Tilismat of Hyderabad; best batting performance in a match — Akbar of Kanoo Travel, bowler with maximum wickets — Nabeel of ICC Irfan Basha; bowler with best bowling average — Nabeel, Rana Shahzad and Athar Abdul Quddus of Deccan Knights; best bowling performance in a match — Humayun of Natco; best all-rounders — Shan Manzoor Malik and Tabriz of Kanoo Club; best partnership — Akbar and Ibrahim Bin Mehfooz of Kanoo Travel (258 against Zinda Tilismat-XI), Asim and Shan Manzoor Malik of Jawar Al-Jazira (159 against ACE Travels); hat trick — Rana Shahzad.
