Saudi Premier League (SPL) Cricket Tournament, organized by Madinah Cricket Association (MCA) and sponsored by My Care & Hala in association with Jeddah Cricket League and Utlines Co., began here recently. The SPL trophy was unveiled by renowned Pakistan cricketer Shahid Khan Afridi and the kit was distributed by Pakistan captain Misbahul Haque. Out of 16 registered teams of MCA, 14 are participating in this tourney. Teams are divided into two groups. Group A: Pepsi Medina, Medina Diamonds, Saudi Oger, Pak Stallions, Kings Eleven, United Stars, Pak Medina. Group B: Classic CC, Green Hawks, Pak Eagle, Sky Wars, Shining Stars, Hasnain CC, Bismillsh CC. Four matches were played in the first week at Al-Aqool Cricket Complex. Sky Wars defeated Pak Eagle by 8 wickets in the first match. Pak Eagle after opting to bat, scored 142 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Yasir (38), Usman (23) and Irfan (22) were the main contributors. Fayyaz took 3 wickets. In reply, Sky Wars easily achieved the target by losing only two wickets. Usman Qazi scored 54 with nine boundaries. Fahad remained unbeaten on 38. Sabir and Irfan claimed two wickets each. In the second match Classic XI beat Bismillah Cricket Club by 8 runs. Batting first, Classic was all out for 144. In reply, Bismillah CC was bundled out for 136. Bilal top scored with 43 and Zafar made 24. Rana Zaheer and Kamran Khan took two wickets each. In the third match, Pepsi Madinah downed Kings CC. Pepsi Medina batted first and put on 172. Arif scored 48 with seven boundaries. Sohail hit 31. Nadir bowled well and captured 4 wickets. Naveed and Irfan claimed two wickets each. Chasing the target, Kings CC could manage only 132. Naeem scored 31 and Wajid 26. Sibtain was the wrecker-in-chief with 4 wickets. The other six wickets were shared equally by Abbas, Naseem and Asif. In the last match of the day, Madinah Diamonds lost to Saudi Oger by 32 runs. Saudi Oger tallied 164 through Waseem (49) and Jhangir (62 with 7 fours). Hayat and Kashif bagged two wickets each. In reply, Madinah Diamonds could make only 132. Faisal scored 37. Rashid claimed 3 for 11. — SG
