DAMMAM — Eastern Province Cricket Association (EPCA) kicked off its season with a T20 tournament, sponsored by Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC) and organized by EPCA at the EPCA grounds here recently. In all, 48 teams are taking part in this event. The teams are divided into two divisions — Premier with 12 teams and First Division with 36 teams. The highlight on the opening day was a match that ended in a tie. League champion Nawab Tigers Bin Delamah, batting first, scored 175-7. Sohrab scored a well-compiled 64 off 46 balls. In reply, Al-Ghamdi started well through Ahmed Rauf (54) and young Omer Imtiyaz (43). But Tigers restricted Al-Ghamdi to 175-6. Pan Gulf upset a mighty Honda. Batting first, Honda put on 167-9. Kashif was the lone batsman who stayed at the crease to make 44. Iftikhar Ali bowled well to claim 3 wickets. Pan Gulf, fielding a young side, achieved the target in 18 overs making 168-6. Imran Chaudhary scored 41 off 19 balls and Asher of Honda claimed 4-33. SKFCC was outplayed by AGE Dolphins. SKFCC scored 191-8. Faraz Ashfaq (64) and Kashan (54) were the main contributors with the bat. Waqas blasted 84 in 48 balls, helping AGE to score 194-3 in 19.1 overs. Al-Dossary Kanoo beat SCPCO. Batting first, Al-Dossary tallied 181-8 in 19 overs. Akhtar made 56. SCPCO, chasing the target, was bundled out for 176 in 19 overs. Riaz stroked 52 and Mohsin 49. Naheed took 3 wickets. In the First Division, Eastern Arabia amassed a mammoth total of 293-3 against Gladiators. Shijil Ahmed scored a magnificent century (114 in 47 balls) and Afwan hit 47. Gladiators, in reply, managed 197-7. Waseem Riaz made 51 and Mubeen 43. KLV Khodari Khan XI outplayed Kanoo Friends XI. Batting first, Kanoo Friends posted 128-7. Amir Ata batted well to score 64. Ilyas, Yahya and Safdar claimed two wickets each. Replying to the modest total, KLV openers Murad (51) and Faiz (58) played some swashbuckling strokes to achieve the target in just 7.3 overs. Falcons outplayed DHL Supply, beating it by 210 runs. Falcons, batting first, scored 280-4. Obaid scored an unbeaten century 127 in 54 balls. He was ably supported by Abdullah 64. Replying to the huge target DHL supply was never in the game as it was bundled out for 70 in 12 overs.
