Hala International School clinched the inaugural SCC U-15 Inter-School cricket tournament crown beating Pakistan International School (English Section) by 60 runs in the final here last week. Batting first, Hala scored 163-5 in 20 overs and then held its nerves to dismiss PISJ-ES for 103. The excellent teamwork helped Hala maintain a clean slate in the tournament sponsored by Saudi Cricket Centre and organized by Western Province Cricket Association. Emad Uddin slammed 66 off 37 balls while Saffan scored 46 runs to put up a record partnership of 112 runs for the first wicket. Hala, however, could not capitalize on this outstanding start scoring only 163-5, leaving the PISJ-ES to score at a modest asking rate of 8.15 per over. Hala bowlers bowled their hearts out to swing the game to their favor. Emad Uddin starred with the ball as well to take 4 wickets for 13 runs and restrict PISJ-ES to 46 for 6 at one stage. Hassan Anjum captured 2-20 besides taking four catches. Mohammad Naveed was PISJ-ES top-scorer with 30 runs. After the match Sadiqul Islam of Saudi Cricket Center gave away prizes to teams and individuals. Speaking on the occasion, he said the SCC has undertaken the duty of spreading cricket throughout the Kingdom and has taken initiatives time and again to organize cricket matches at junior level. Referring to the improvement in infrastructure, he said the SCC has recently laid a natural turf wicket at Saudi Cricket Academy in Jeddah. Awards were picked up by the following: Third position: Bangladesh International (ES): Man of the Final and Man of the Tournament: Emad Uddin of Hala; Best Batsman: Abdullah of PISJ; Best Bowler: Usman Qureshi of PISJ; Highest Runs in a Match: Zubaid of IISJ; Maximum Wickets in a Match: Zain of PISJ; All-round Performance in a Match: Zubair of Hala; Best Wicketkeeper: Mansoor of PISJ; Best Partnership: Abdulla & Mansoor of PISJ. __
