Obaidullah and Abdul Qader batted brilliantly to take their team Pakistan International School, Naseriya, (PISN) into the final of the Under-19 age group of the Zultec Inter-School Cup. The tournament is sponsored by Zultec and organized by Riyadh Cricket Association. In the final, PISN will meet Sri Lankan International School (SLIS), which defeated Jawahir International School (JIS). The Under-15 final will be between PISN and Middle East International School (MEIS). At RCA ground 4, batting first the PISN innings got to a rollicking start as openers Obaidullah and Abdul Qader produced 174 runs. Abdul Qader for the second time in the tournament missed century by 4 runs as he stroked to a fluent 96. Obaidullah continued his good form by making an unbeaten 114 which contained 15 fours and 3 sixes. PISN made 257-1 in the allotted 20 overs. None of the Bangladesh International School (BDIS) bowlers made any impression. Chasing a big total the BDIS batsmen collapsed like ninepins and were bowled out for 65. Jahangir and Abdul Aziz took 3 wickets each. In the other semifinal, SLIS boys prevailed over JIS by 37 runs. Taking first strike the SLIS batsmen made a modest score of 153 in the allotted 20 overs. Once again captain Abeyratne was in terrific form as he made an unbeaten 60. He was ably supported by Tariq (31) and Ahsan (30). Faraz took 3 wickets while Tajwer picked 2. JIS started its chase disastrously by losing openers cheaply. But Shiraz (25) and Sohail (24) tried to salvage the situation but did not get any support from other batsmen. The JIS could make only 116. In the Under-15 semis, Middle East International School (MEIS) and PISN beat SLIS and Indian Public School (IPS) respectively. Taking first strike, the MEIS boys made a competitive score of 153-4 in the allotted 20 overs. The main scorers were Walid Shirazi (48 not out), Ahmed Saleem (36) and Adnan Alam (26). Akram picked up two wickets. In their chase the SLIS boys struggled against some fine bowling by Walid Shirazi. SLIS could make only 97. Shirazi finished with 4 wickets, while Bilal took 2. In the second semifinal, PISN routed IPS by 39 runs. Batting first, the PISN boys piled up a big total of 239. Wajed of PISN made a scintillating ton. He got good support from Shiraz (83). IPS in its chase batted well but could not cope up with the run rate. It reached 200 without losing a wicket in 20 overs. Shelvin Shaji made a brilliant 78 before he got retired hurt. Mohammed Rasheed (48 not out) and Raziuddin Atif (28 not out) were the other scorers. __
