Dr. Sayed Ziauddin JEDDAH — Afaque, Naeem Shah and Tasleem Ahmed cracked centuries in the Hyundai Premier Cup, which is organized by Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) here. Crown Steel opted to bat first against My Care & Hala. Tasleem Ahmed played a magnificent innings of 103 in 84 balls with 6 fours and a six. He added 167 runs for the second wicket with prolific Afzal, who hit a classy 82 in 66 balls. Crown Steel thus looked all set for a big tally. But the batsmen who followed could not keep up the momentum as Hussain Bhatti of My Care Hala scalped 3-54 to restrict them to 271 in 35 overs. Kashif Shafeeq took 2-23. Zaheer Sulehri made a quick-fire unbeaten 26 from the tail and Abid Naseem 20. Mohammed Taiyyab and Waheed took one wicket each. My Care Hala was off to a fine start with Kashif Shafeeq making 57 in 38 balls (8 fours). But he did not get any support from the other end and the team slumped to 157-6 as left-arm spinner Aijaz Mitha grabbed 4-38. Hussain Bhatti tried his best with 42, Babar Hussain 28 and Mohammed Taiyyab 22 to take the final tally to 227. Shafeeq Ahmed took 2-16, Afzal 2-39 and Imran one. Zultec batted first and racked up 292-7 as opener Afaque plundered 151 runs in just 87 balls with 22 fours and a six. He reached his second consecutive hundred in 64 balls. Niaz made an unbeaten 51, Bilal Khan 35 and Wajahat 21. Zahid Anwer took 3-48, Amjad 2-54 and one wicket went to Moazzam Shoukat. In reply, Hala Gems started well with Imran Choudhry making 62. He added 53 for the first wicket with Moazzam Shoukat (30). Amer Sajjad then kept the hopes alive with 44 in 24 balls. Amjad made 23 and Inayat 23. Hala Gems, however, was restricted to 207-9 as spinner Khalid Iqbal claimed 4-35, Akram 3-23 and Javed Iqbal 2-47. AOT Al-Farooq batted first against IDBG and lost Faisal off the first ball. But Naeem Shah played a classy innings of 150 in 76 balls with 5 sixes and 16 fours. He completed his century in 62 balls. He added 138 runs for the second wicket with Ilyas, who made 79 runs in 42 balls. Faiq Habeeb hit an unbeaten 87 in 43 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes to lift the team to a mammoth 379-6. Qaim Ali Shah hit 33. Hassan took 3-58, while Mohsin, Abdul Jabbar and Maqbool got one wicket each. IDBG, in reply, folded up for 234. Adeel Ahmed made 62, Yasser 41, Khurram 32 and Ramazan 29. Qaim Khan scalped 2-14, Imran Yusuf 2-41, while Faiq Habib and Nasir Iqbal got one wicket each.
