JEDDAH – The cast for Hyundai Morning Tournament's knockout stage started to take shape with stunning wins by ALJ Toyota, OTEX and Al-Saudi XI here recently. ATS chose to bat first and scored 127-6 in 18 overs. Ayaz Jafri scored 37, while Dr. Basheer remained unbeaten on 25. Adil scalped 2-25. ALJ Toyota reached the target of 128 for the loss of 8 wickets in 104 balls. Naeem Khan made 24, while Rafaqat hit 31 to win comfortably to sit second on the points table.
Lateef took 2-13, Dr. Basheer 2-21 and Naved 2-22. In the second match, Jeddah Royals batted first and was bundled out for 84. Ibrahim made 17, while Talib took 2-8, Irfan 2-9 and Ijaz 2-21. OTEX, in reply, reached the target of 89 for the loss of 6 wickets in 60 balls. Irfan made 35, while Shahid added 16. Ibrahim grabbed 3-7. The third encounter saw Al-Mazroi-XI take the strike first. Skipper Sufiyan Laheri blasted 59 in 29 balls (4 fours and 3 sixes), while Sajid hit 63 in 44 balls (5 fours and 2 sixes) as they added 115 runs in 66 balls to lay the foundation for a big total. Faisal remained unbeaten on 58 (3 sixes and 4 fours) to take the total to 192-3. Bilal took 2-25. Al-Saudi XI, in reply, reached 196 for the loss of 2 wickets in 101 balls to win. Openers Ghayour Sajjad – 63 (8 fours and 3 sixes) – and Nadeem Saad Al-Nadwi – 60 (5 fours and 4 sixes) – added 86 runs in 36 balls to lay the basis for the grand chase. Later Zeeshan Soherwardy blasted an unbeaten 52 to take the team to victory. Al-Saudi-XI thus remained unbeaten along with Hala Academy White. — SG
