Dr. Gayas Ahmed RIYADH — Alwan's Arab Royals will play Noviasat's Dammam Fighters in the final of the Youm Al-Watani Cup 2013, organized by G.K's International Indian Sports Club. In the semfinals, played here recently, Noviasat's Dammam Fighters defeated Alabda's Najran Jewels by 50 runs and Alwan's Arab Royals stunned unbeaten Mir's Saudi Stallions by 4 wickets. In first semifinal, Fighters' captain Siraj won the toss and elected to bat. After a shaky start (32-3) Fighters made a good total of 176-8 in 16 overs, mainly due to good partnerships between Azam Qureshi 63 (29 balls — 6x5, 4x5), Sayeed 30 (12 — 6x4) and Mustafa 20 (17 — 4x2). Ata, Hussain and Sohail shared 6 wickets. Najran started on a fast note but was soon reduced to 4-39 and could not recover. Moreover, once its star player Ata 30 (12 — 6x3, 4x2) got out it was all over for Najran. Captain Atif 24 (20 — 4x3) and Imran 15 tried their best but in vain. Sayeed (3-15), Adanan (2-18) and Hussain (2-34) were the main destroyers of Najran Jewels. Azam Qureshi and Sayeed were jointly declared the Players-of-the-Match. In a thrilling second semifinal, Alwan's played with a vengeance. Batting first, Mir's was bundled out for 124-9 in 16 overs. Syed Adnan Ahmed and co.'s controlled bowling, supported by fine catches by Aftab, who took 3 in the outfield, cleaned up the strong batting lineup of Mir's. Adnan's 6-25 in less than 4 overs rattled the Mir's batsmen. Only Amir 31 (27 — 6x1, 4x4), Mani 26 (18 — 6x2, 4x2) and captain Azhar 20 got some runs for Mir's. Alwan's lost a wicket to the very first ball of the innings and was reduced to 23-3 but Sajid 14 and Abrar 40 (29 — 6x3, 4x2) stood like a rock, in the face of hostile bowling of Mir's. Their match-winning partnership of 44, followed by Adnan 20 (12 — 6x3) and Imran 12 (3 — 6x2) guided the Arab Royals to victory with 5 balls to spare. Assad (2-21) and Kabir (2-25) tried in vain to remove the opposition. Syed Adnan Ahmed's best bowling, also the best bowling figures of the tournament, and a quick-fire 20 at a crucial stage of the game, earned him the Player-of-the-Match award. The final will begin at 1:00 p.m. Friday.
