JEDDAH — Saleem Khan powered Friends XI past MCC despite the heroics of Khawar Sohail and Zeeshan in the Premier League Championship of WPCA. In other matches, Nestle Milo continued its march undefeated, Aziziyah Elegant and Thales Group pulled off surprise wins as Zultrack, Contraco and APF prevailed in the Afternoon T20. Both the tournaments are sponsored and managed by WPCA. Premier (35 overs) Friends XI trounced MCC by 3 wickets. MCC, batting first, was bowled out for 236. Khawar Sohail hit 51 in 36 balls, while Zeeshan top scored with 80 in 64 balls with 5 fours and a six. The two added 97 for the second wicket. Ejaz scored 24 and Saleem 15. Saleem Khan claimed 3-41, Mohsin 2-30, Umair 2-52, while Samir and Chintika got one each. Friends XI reached 240-7 in 198 balls. Anis Malik compiled 48, Samer 22, Usman 34, Abdullah Essa 42 and Saleem Khan 24, while Niaz Ahmed and Junaid remained unbeaten on 19. Khawar Sohail took 3-32, Yasir 2-16 and Imran 2-42. Afternoon T20 Nestle Milo won against Lothers to remain undefeated by 51 runs. Nestle Milo piled up 169-7. Ijaz Butt hit 29 and Fayyaz 49. Abdullah Zahid managed 36 and Sher Bahadur 15. Pradeep got 3-20 and Suraj 2-40. Lothers lost wickets at frequent intervals to be restricted to 118-7. Khurram Aziz resisted with 30. He added 58 with Adarsh (18) after being 27-4. Irfan Haider bowled devastatingly to claim 4-21 and Imran Sarwar 2-20. APF defeated OMD Tuskers by 10 runs. APF racked up 175-8, thanks to Adnan, who made an unbeaten 50 in 29 balls. Ashraf (45) and Adnan added 99 to get to 175-8 from 76-7. Siddique made 25. Shafeeq JR was virtually unplayable and grabbed 4-20 and Toufal 2-40. OMD Tuskers, in reply, dominated through Yashik Alangad (48), Adnan (15) and Khadiry (25). But Usman, who took 3-31, and Siddique (2-25) restricted it to 165-7 from 101-2. Hari scored 18. Thales Group edged past Fuchs by 2 wickets. Fuchs Alhamrani posted 154-7. Mohsin cracked 44, Mansoor 37 and Saqib 19 after the top order failed. Mohammed took 3-15. Thales Group, in reply, was home (155-8) on the last ball of the day. Junaid contributed 30, Bilal 31, Malik 26 and Waqas A 33. Mohsin scalped 3-35 and Irfan Anjum 2. Zultrack humbled Hyderabad Strikers by 115 runs. Zultrack racked up a huge 190-7 through Obaidurrehman (41), Subaiyyal (22), Omar Mukhtar (46) and Waheed (24 not out). Adnan excelled with 3-28 and 4 catches. Hyderabad Strikers was bundled out for 75. Amjad (24) and Zeeshan (17) touched double-digit mark. Veteran Khaled Iqbal grabbed 3-8, Yusuf 3-13 and Waqas 3-16. Aziziyah Elegant thrashed Al-Safri by 4 wickets. Al-Safri opted to bat and started well with a 51-run partnership between Muneeb Anwer (11) and Rehan (36). Later, Saeed Ahmed stroked 39, Aftab Malik 34 and Wasim Imran an unbeaten 17 to get to 159-5. Khalid took 2-26. Aziziyah Elegant responded by raining fours and sixes as Ali Awan blasted 49 and Qasim Majid 24. The duo added 66 within no time. Abdulsamad remained unbeaten on 34 and Khalid on 25 to get to the winning target of 162-6 in 100 balls. Muneeb Anwer took 2-18 and Aftab Malik 2-36. Contraco had the last laugh against Harsco Baroom by 2 wickets. Harsco Baroom posted 136-6. Imran Nasir scored 47 to add 58 with Saqib (22). Azam remained unbeaten on 31. Abbas took 3-30 and Amjad 2-35. For Contraco, Bilal hammeried 67 in 31 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes as he achieved victory single-handed by steering the team to 138-8 in 90 balls. Azam almost won the match for his team with 5-25.
