JEDDAH — Performances by Shahnawaz of UCC, Shafeeq of Jotun Paints and Asif of Natcom were the highlight of the WPCA Afternoon Tournament 2012-13 season opener here recently. Natcom, batting first against Fuchs Al-Hamrani, racked up 211-4. Asif top scored with 77 off 34 balls (4 sixes and 6 fours), Jameel Raja hit 53, while Aamir made 28 and Zahoor 25. Al-Hamrani in reply could only score 191, thereby losing the match by 20 runs. Irfan Anjum scored 41, Farid 32, Nasir 30, and Rashed 29. Asif claimed 3-37 and Ilham 2-5. In another match Dopco Young Stars restricted Munch Bakery to 117 as Afzal took 3-13 and Hassan 2-21. Shahzad was the only batsman to put up some resistance with 25. Dopco Young Stars reached the target for the loss of four wickets off 86 balls. Afzal hit 47 and Saifullah 46. Saleem Siddiqui took 2-9 and Rana 2-11. Nestle Milo thrashed Crown Blue by seven wickets. Crown Blue could muster only 71 runs as Nadeem Shabbir top scored with 26, while Irfan scalped 3-20. In reply Nestle Milo raced to the target of 73 off 54 balls with seven wickets in hand as Aijaz Butt scored 35. Jotun Paints, batting first against Zultrack, found its openers in prime touch as Shafeeq scored 67 off 48 balls and Shabbir 55 off 44 to score 129 runs. Fawad took 2-8. Zultrack began in reply promisingly with Emad Shams smashing 6 fours and 3 sixes to compile 85 runs. His partner Ali scored 40 to add 104 for the first wicket. Once the openers were back in the pavilion, Shafeeq grabbed 5-26 to restrict Zultrack to 167-6 to win by 24 runs. Another match saw UCC take the strike first against Al-Rayyan. Shahnawaz scored a century (106) with the help of 2 sixes and 11 fours as none other could contribute much as it scored 199-8 in 18 overs. Amjad took 2-3, Abdul Qayyum 2-26 and Atif 2-40. Al-Rayyan started off nicely but could not maintain the required run rate and finished its innings at 169-6 to lose by 30 runs. Shahnawaz, showing fine all-round performance, took 4-16. Elaf Advance batting against Hala International School posted 196-3 in 18 overs. Usman Gulab (12 fours and a six) remained unbeaten on 80 and Siddique made 54 as the two added 120 runs for the second wicket. Hala School gave away 42 extras. Mohsin Mirza led Hala from the front with 83 off 37 balls (13 fours and 2 sixes) as Nauman hit 33. The two put on 114 runs for the first wicket. Anas Malik later scored an unbeaten on 43 to take the team to its victory target of 197 for the loss of four wickets. Usman and Ali took two wickets each. AOT Youngsters, batting first against Masco, piled up 168-5 through Hasnain (40) and Rafeeq (33). Zeeshan took 2-26. Masco was stranded at 146-6 to lose by 22 runs. Usman top scored with 65 and Atif unbeaten 27. Zakir Habeeb took 3-29. Contraco plundered 192-9 against My Care Hala Green. Khurram hit 67, while Shahzad scored 38. Attaurrehman scalped 3-31, while two wickets each fell to Usama and Hassan Malik. My Care Hala Green was bundled out for 90 as Irfan Aziz bagged 2-8, Gulam 2-5, Fakhar 2-20 and Tahir 2-21.
