YANBU — Mangalore, Punjab, Natpet and STICCO booked their berths in the Al-Muzain T20 Cup Group B semifinals organized by YACA here recently. Mangalore Challengers defeated Saudi Ossan and SAMREF to reach the semifinals of the first Al-Muzain T20 Cup organized by YACA here. In the first match Mangalore Challengers thrashed Saudi Ossan by 138 runs. Siyam scored 87 and Irfan 79 to give Saudi Ossan a challenging target of 233. Saudi Ossan could score only 95-5. Punjab XI defeated Kashmir XI and SAMREF to reserve the second semifinals spot. Punjab XI defeated Kashmir XI by 4 wickets. Opting to bat first, Kashmir scored 181-6. Hamid (54) and Samiullah (48) were the main scorers. Punjab reached the target for the loss of 6 wickets. Javed hit 44 and Rizwan 34. Natpet defeated Pak XI, Royal Commission B and ESC Titans to also make the semifinals. Natpet defeated Pak XI by 78 runs. Saleemullah with 51 and Jaleel 30 helped Natpet reach 170-9. In reply, Pak Green could score only 92. STICCO booked the last berth in the semifinals defeating ESC Titans and Royal Commission B. STICCO had the narrowest of wins of the tournament when it beat ESC Titans by 4 runs. It won the other encounter against Royal Commission by 12 runs. Brief scores: STICCO 126 for 7 (Wasim 58, Rehan 3 for 20) edged Royal Commission 114 (Rakit 30, Noor 3 for 17) by 12 runs. Mangalore Challengers 159 for 7 (Shiyam 56) defeated SAMREF 105 for 4 (Felix 35) by 54 runs. Punjab XI 187 for 6 (Luqman 73) defeated SAMREF 81 (Prasad 25, Rizwan 4 for 20) by 106 runs. Punjab XI 155 for 9 (Sadiq 59, Sibghatullah 3 for 25) thumped Green Star 93 (Rizwan 3 for 8) by 62 runs. Natpet 170 for 9 (Saleemullah 51) thrashed Pak XI 92 (Zohaib 29) by 78 runs. Natpet 117 for 9 (Vignesh 34, Laal 4 for 22) trounced ESC Titans 95 (Ehsan 21) by 22 runs. Royal Commission B 97 for 3 (Sanjeev 37) lost to Natpet 98 for 3 (Saleemullah 30) by 7 wickets. Kashmir XI 168 for 5 (Hamid 50, Baba 57) humbled Saudi Ossan 103 for 9 (Javed 3 for 13) by 65 runs. SARCO 136 for 5 (Ashiq 68) lost to Pak Green 140 for 5 (Anoop 3 for 29) by 5 wickets. Kashmir XI 187 for 6 (Samiullah 55, Hamid 58) defeated Worley Parson 28(Javed 4 for 7) by 159 runs. Green Star 141 for 8 (Riaz 45) beat Worley Parson 115 for 9(Ravi 22) by 26 runs. SARCO 101 for 4(Qadir 32) lost to Pak Green 104 for 6(Ashiq 45) by 4 wickets. — SG
