The Riyadh Cricket Association (RCA), under the patronage of Prince General Dr. Abdul Aziz Bin Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, has launched the Inter-School Cricket Tournament as part of their mission to promote cricket in Riyadh. The tournament is divided into two divisions according to age group: those under 15 and under 19. Competing in this prestigious tournament are teams from the Pakistan International School (PIS) - Urdu Section, International Indian School Riyadh, New Middle East International School, Daratassalam International Delhi Public School, Pakistan International School - English Section, International Indian Public School Riyadh (IISR), Jawaher Al-Riyadh International School, Bangladesh International School Riyadh, and Manarat International School. The Inter-School Cricket Tournament kicked off on Jan. 12 at the RCA grounds, with the IISR and PIS – Urdu Section facing off in the first match in the Under-15 division. RCA President Qadeer Mirza spoke about the development of cricket in Riyadh and thanked the organizing committee comprised of Nayeem Akbar, Amjad Iqbal and Zahid Mir and as well as the executive committee of RCA for making the tournament happen. Khawar Abbas, on behalf of the Shuraim Cricket Club, distributed trophies and cash prizes for the finals. Chairman of the IISR Nayeem Akbar shared words of wisdom with the participating teams, underscoring team spirit and proper protocols in playing cricket. Faisal Khan, PIS team captain, won the toss and elected to bat. Aided by a rocking 55 of 28 balls including 10 fours by skipper Faisal and the able support of Matiullah (18), Suleman (23) and Mubbashir (15), PIS scored 182 runs before being bowled out by IISR. Khan was in fluent touch and played some beautiful shots all around the ground to the cheers of spectators. For IISR, Faisal, Fahad, Aakaefin and Zain took two wickets each; Salman took one wicket and one batsman of PIS was run out. Batting second, IISR got off to a flying start with Rahim (22) and Shahish (30) putting on valuable 58 runs for the opening wicket in record time. IISR bowlers, however, came back strongly to halt their efforts and tightened the screws on IISR batting once the openers were back in the pavilion. Irfan was the lone fighter for IISR after the openers' exit. In the end, IISR could manage 137 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. For PISR, Faisal took two wickets and Waleed, Sufiyan, Ayaz, Bilal1, Abdullah and Bilal took one wicket each and one IISR batsman was run out. PIS won the match by 45 runs and Faisal Khan was pronounced Man of the Match for his rocking 55 runs and 2 wickets. Eleven-year-old Irfan of IISR was adjudged the Best Performer of the match and given a cash prize of SR150 for his spirited performance. The event was graced by all the executive members of RCA headed by COO Nadeem Babar, President Mirza, Vice President/Finance Officer Kareem Khan, General Secretary Dr. Ahmer Waheed, Joint Secretary Nasir Abbasi, Umpire in Charge Shahid Iqbal, the coaching and support staff of the participating schools, cricket team members of various RCA clubs, and cricket lovers and supporters of both teams. RCA is pushing to have maximum representation from among the talented and skilled players of Riyadh schools. The best players according to performance and set criteria shall qualify to join teams representing Saudi Arabia in international tournaments. One of these is the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) U-16 Elite Cup, which will see 10 Asian Elite countries competing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Saudi Arabia U-16 Cricket Team is set to participate in this event. __
