RIYADH — Youm Al Watani Cup 2015 has reached a crucial stage as teams are sweating it out to make it to the knockout quarterfinal stage. With two more league games left, HS Khobar Knights and Dream India Saudi Gems are through to the next stage. Group B is almost decided but Group A is still wide open with only Syed's Najd Najams comfortably placed on top. It overcame a spirited Friendi's Jeddah Jockeys by 11 runs. Electing to bat, Najd scored 193-8 in 16 overs through Amir (64) and Kaleem (24). Khadeer (5-26) and Shadab (2-64) took the wickets for Friendi. Saqib (58) and Naushad (34) brought Friendi close to its first win but the unbeaten Syed's Najd had the last laugh. Jaguars reached 182-8 as Saleem (3-32) and Player of the Match Haneef (2-35) got the game back to Najd Najams. Binesh's impressive show with the bat (54) and ball (4-25) against Saudi DM Hail Heros got his team HS Khobar Knights into the last 8. Electing to bat first, Khobar Knights made 170-7. Deepu (37) also helped the team with Binesh. Inayath (2-12) and Asif (2-37) got the wickets for Hail. Rajeev (3-22), Abu Bakr (2-25) along with Player-of-the-Match Binesh dismissed Hail Heros for 128 in 15 overs. Yasin (32) could not prevent his team losing by 42 runs. Aftab Ahmed of Mashal Taif Tigers struck form at the right time with a fine century to get to the challenging target of Mir's Saudi Stallions. After winning the toss Mir's scored 221-7 with Siddiq (47 not out), Aashiq (34 not out) and Nakheeb (39) making the runs. Shoaib (2-38) and Sheraaz (2-47) scalped Mir's wickets. Opening the innings Aftab (100 not out) partnered with Zakir (46) and Hussain (31) to hit the winning run. Mashal reached 222-6 with 4 balls remaining. Asiq took 2-15. Aftab was adjudged the Player of the Match. AR Sports Dammam Fighters suffered a shock defeat at the hands of GK Gizan Gladiators. Both teams needed wins to stay alive in the tournament. After winning the toss AR Fighters got only 147-7 on the board. Azam Qureshi (30), Mubashir (30) and Adnan (27) scored for Dammam. Mubashir (3-34), Pradeep (2-36) bowled well. Gizan Gladiators reached 148-1 in 13.2 overs, losing only Jameel for 28. The architect of Gizan's 9-wicket win was Abdul Kareem, who remained unbeaten on 92. He was awarded the Player of the Match prize. Shams Abha Avians easily defeated Interactive Jeddah Jockeys by 63 runs to give its quarterfinals chances a boost. Put into bat, Shams made 187-8 through Danish (89 not out) and Raoof (37). Ibrahim (4-23) and Abdul Rahman (2-45) took Shams' wickets. Interactive Jeddah Jockeys was all out for 124. Ibrahim (24) and Baseer (27) resisted for a while against the bowling of Danish (2-15) and Halimuddin (2-16). Danish's all-round performance won him the Player of the Match award and also AR Sports Star of the Day prize. Dream India Saudi Gems erased the memory of their loss to HS Khobar Knight and defeated Delta Najran Jewels by 65 runs. Electing to bat first, Dream India tallied 232-9. Arif (62), Imran Mani (54) and Sarfaraz (44) batted for Dream India. Saleem (2-38) and Saqlain (2-38) bowled well for Najran. Delta Najran Jewels started well but tight overs in the middle restricted it to 186-9. Saleem (39) and Saqlain (20) were the main scorers for Najran. Imran Mani (4-37) and Sarfaraz (2-50) bowled well for Dream India. Sarfaraz was given the Player of the Match award. Oubler Riyadh Ryders played like professionals to earn invaluable points from Mazaya Arab Royals. Electing to bat, Oubler hit 183-6 and dismissed Mazaya for 164 in 15.4 overs. Riyadh team removed the Mazaya batsmen by planned bowling and fielding. Waseem (50) and Sofiyan (44) batted well for Oublers. Muzzamil (3-44) and Waseem (2-42) took the wickets for Mazaya. Asim (38) and Naseer's (22) effort was not enough to prevent Oubler riding home by 20 runs. Adnan (2-29) and Azhar (2-46) bowled well for Oubler. Sufiyan was named the Player of the Match.
