A.A. Merchant JEDDAH — Al-Khluais, MHA, Reel & Rom and Butt Sports reached the semifinals beating their respective opponents in the quarterfinals of the JCA-sponsored Morning League here recently. Al-Khulais downed KAIA by 6 wickets, MHA thrashed IBS by 137 runs, Reel & Rom defeated Al-Farras by 52 runs and Butt Sports romped home against Saleheen by 36 runs. In the semifinals, MHA will take on Real & Rom and Butt Sports will meet Al-Khulais. KAIA batted first against Al-Khulais and was skittled out for a paltry 126. Shahid (5-19) and Hasnain (4-15) played havoc as they ran through the KAIA lineup. Aijaz and Sami put up 50 runs for the opening wicket but once they were dismissed, the other batsmen could not negotiate the bowling of Shahid and Hasnain and it was simply a procession to the pavilion. Riaz was the top scorer with 39. He hit 6 fours and a six. In reply, KAIA bowlers, particularly Khalid (3-31), made Al-Khulais batsmen fight for each run. Zahoor (18), Aslam (15) were dismissed early, but Akmal (25 — 5 fours) and Majid Bhatti (27 — 2 fours and 2 sixes) steadied the innings and ensured no further hiccups as Al-Khulais managed to reach home with 5 wickets and 6 overs in hand. MHA amassed 264-5 and then sent IBS packing for a low score of 127. Shad Muhammad played a hurricane innings of 87 off only 38 balls with 7 sixes and 6 fours. Yasir hit 5 fours in his 24, while Ali blasted a quick-fire 65 with 5 fours and 4 huge sixes. Shabbir chipped in with 39 (4 fours and 2 sixes). IBS wilted under pressure and gave away 36 extras to swell the tally to 264. Facing a mammoth total, IBS openers put on 60 for the opening wicket, but the latter batsmen threw away their wickets except Amanullah (35), Shoaib (35) and Abdul Ghaffar (26) who offered some resistance. Safdar claimed 2-28 as IBS lost by a huge margin of 137 runs. Reel and Rom scored 215 and restricted Al-Farras to 163-8. Waheed cut loose from the beginning and raced to 68 in only 28 balls with 5 sixes and 4 fours. He was supported by Wajid, who played a sedate innings of 26, while Irfan Butt (26 — 4 fours and a six) and Samer (26 — 2 sixes and a four) played cameo innings. Mubashir (2-32) applied the brakes, while Tariq Jamal and Zain got one wicket each. Al-Farras lost 4 in quick succession. Only Mustafa with a solid 71 off 28 balls with 7 sixes and 3 fours stood amongst some tight bowling. Zain Salekeen (22) and Zain Huda (30) tried to make a match of it in vain. Al-Farras could only reach 163. Samer claimed 3-30 and Waheed 2-12. Saleheen, which performed well in the league, choked in the knockout against Butt Sports. It had lost only one of its 12 league matches whereas Butt Sports only qualified at the expense of Pak Young. Butt Sports put up 197-4. Zeeshan Butt hit a hurricane 73 with 5 fours and 3 sixes, while Javed hit a patient 71 with 4 sixes and 3 fours. Imran remained unbeaten on 25. Nasir claimed 2 for 30. In reply, Saleheen had a disastrous start as it lost its prolific scorer Faisal to the first ball of the innings and Amer too was dismissed cheaply followed by Sabir and Imran Mani. Farhat (35) and Faisal (29) brought some respectability to the total but it was not enough as Saleheen folded up for 161. Umar claimed 3-33, while Atif and Abdul Rahman got 2 wickets each for 33 and 38 runs, respectively.
