JEDDAH – The third week of the WPCA Afternoon League, which is being sponsored by Hyundai, saw 8 matches. Hala Academy Blue bundled out Munch Bakery for a paltry 66 through Aleem (3 wickets), Haider (3 wickets) and Abdul Rafay (2 wickets). Only Irfan could resist a bit with 25. Hala Academy Blue responded with 69 for 3 in just 43 balls. Talha made 20. Tariq took 2-14. GGI piled up 181 for 7 against Crown Blue, thanks to a great innings of 101 in 46 balls by Pervez Baig with 4 sixes and 9 fours. Ijaz remained not out on 23. This was Baig's second consecutive century in as many matches. Saqib Butt took 3-33 and Irfan 2-23. In reply, Crown Blue hit 185 for 8 in 106 balls as Saqib Butt exhibited fine all-round performance by hitting 41. Zahid made 28. Ali took 4-60 and Abid 2-35. Zultrack, batting against Pak Kashmir, crumbled for just 92. Arif top-scored with 22 whereas Shabbir took 3-14 and a wicket each went to Umer, Amir, Afsar Khan and Shabbir. While chasing, Pak Kashmir was home with 94-4 in 62 balls. Hanif stroked 30 and Sher Badar 23. United Cricket Club (UCC) was bowled out for 114 by Desert Lions. Shahnawaz came up with 30. Rumesh Abdulqader took 2-6, Philips 2-23, Khan 2-29 and Khalid 2-25. Desert Lions was home with 116-6 in 96 balls. Siraj smashed a match-winning unbeaten 39 and Rumesh made 32. Yasser grabbed 3-30. AOT Youngsters elected to bat first against Al-Safree XI and piled up 174-7 through Shahid (55 in 30 balls), Rafeeq (39) and Zakir Habeeb (24 not out). Waseeq Sherwani scalped 3-33 and Mubashir 2-39. Al-Safree XI, in reply, was all out for 158. The main contributions came from Muneeb, who made 62 in 40 balls with 9 fours and a six, and Aamir, who hit an unbeaten 20. Shahid took 3-30, Rafiq 2-25, Waqas 2-38 and Uzair 2-41. AMI Juffali rallied to 158-9 against My Care Hala Green after it was reeling at 76-5 in 9 overs. Mustafa Abdul Qader struck a valuable 41 in 36 balls, Najam contributed 29 and Imran 25. Azhar took 2-32, Osama 2-26 and Hassan Malik 2-22. My Care Hala Green was restricted to 104-9. Salman made 39 and Hassan Malik 20. Asif took 2-39. Natcom, chasing 154 to win, slumped to 15-2. But Raja Jameel made a unbeaten 50 in 36 balls and Waqas remained unbeaten on 52 in 30 balls to make an unbroken 139-run partnership which led them to victory by 8 wickets against Pak Mecca XI.
