Kanoo Finance snatched an exciting one-wicket win against Kanoo Power and Industrial Project (P&IP) to clinch the 11th Kanoo Inter-Division Cup for the first time. Kanoo P&IP toppled defending champion Kanoo Travel in the semifinal take on Kanoo Finance in the final. Opting to bat first, P&IP openers Junaid 17 and skipper Shafi 19 put on 23 runs before it started losing wickets at regular intervals as Finance bowler Ehtesham outburst got him 4-31. However middle-order batsmen Fazlullah 16 was well supported by Razi 15 and Wasi 16 not out set a competitive total of 144 in the allotted 20 overs. A wicket each went to Sami Khan, Nasir and Qasir. In response, Finance suffered the worst start as P&IP bowler Fazlulla took opener Tasneem (7) and Shamshad (8) in his first and second over respectively. In came Sami Khan who plundered 1 six and 2 fours in his 32 off 16 balls before he was out lbw. Thanks to the other opener Shabbir (24) who survived until 16th over as he cleverly rotated the strike in making singles and doubles. Nasir hit a six and a boundary (20 not out) along with Jerome 11 to produce 27 runs for the 9th wicket. Then Muneer (5 not out) joined the party and gave a very good support to Nasir. Their vital partnership of 10 runs enabled Finance reach the target of 145 in 18.1 overs with one wicket left and clinch the 11th Kanoo Inter-Division Cup. P&IP's successful bowlers were Matheen (3-26), Fazlullah and Mushtaq (2 each) and Wasi (1) Player of the Final: Ehtesham of Finance. In the third position match, Kanoo Freight trounced Kanoo Travel by 5 runs. Freight kicked off on a confident note with openers Ashfaq 14 and Nizam 21 taking the score to 20. Later it lost Hameen (8), Suresh (11), Donald (7), Hari (15) and Affan (8) as Oliver cut through the Freight batting by taking 6-23. A wicket each to Asif and Junaid restricted their opponent to 109 in the allotted 15 overs. Travel responded sluggishly as it lost 3 quick wickets for 32. But the skipper Muteeb 19 and veteran Selmi Cassim 19 steadied the innings to reach 99-6. It looked like an easy win for Travel as it required only 11 runs with 5 wickets in hand. But Ashfaq rocked Travel by taking 4-20 and Hameen (2-28) completed the rout for clinching the third position trophy in its maiden venture. Nizam, Suresh and Panduka (one wicket each) also bowled well. Man of the Match: Ashfaque of Freight. Chief guests Ali Abdullah Kanoo and Muzaza Al-Ghamdi witnessed the match. They congratulated teams and distributed the winner's trophy to Finance, runner-up trophy to P&IP and Consolation Cup to Freight. They also awarded the individual prizes. Performance awards: Best batsmen: On aggregate - Matheen (P&IP), on average - Shafi (P&IP). Best bowler: On aggregate - Oliver (Travel), on average - Ashfaq (Freight). Best all-rounder: On aggregate - Nizam (Freight), on average - Sami Khan (Finance). Catches: Keeper - Wahid Khan (Freight), fielder - Asif (Travel). Fastest fifty - Sami Khan (Finance), century - Matheen (P&IP). Other awards: Umpires - Kumar Krishnan, Dr. Zia and Mahmood Alam. Service awards: Syed Abdul Rashid and Salman. Team manager awards: Khaja (Finance), Mustafa Kothari (P&IP), Rafeeque (Freight) and Syed Hamid Nayeem (Travel & Tours). __
