Dr. Gayas Ahmed RIYADH — HS Dammam Fighters and DMT Tabuk Titans won their last league matches to secure berths in the last eight of Youm Al-Watani Cup 2014 here recently. Alwan Arab Royals also won its match to remain undefeated and sit atop Group A. In the first match, Mohammed Sayeed helped HS Dammam Fighters defeat Roiyas Jeddah Jockeys by 62 runs. Electing to bat first, Sayeed opened the innings and cracked 129 (17x6, 2x4) as Dammam made 239-2. Saleem with 43, Imran 28 and Mustafa 23 were the other contributors. Meraj took the 2 wickets which fell. Chasing the big score, Roiya's was restricted to 177-9 as Hisham took 3-44, Afzal 3-46 and Imran 2-26. Qasim Zia was Roiya's top-scorer with 79 (8x6, 2x4) and Salam added 33. Sayeed won both the Player of the Match and Star of the Day awards. Alwan Arab Royals beat Mumtaz Riyadh Ryders by 42 runs to top Group A. Royals' captain Nawaz won the toss and opted to bat first, posting 224-9. Fine performances by Ashfaq (75), Nawaz (29) and Zakir 28 boosted Royals' total. Baber claimed 4-78 and Imran 2-42. In reply, Baber scored 55, Aamir 45 and Ehsan 29 as the team was restricted to 182. Hussain scalped 3-36 and Ismail 2-46. Player of the Match: Ashfaq. Mir's Saudi Stallions lost the final league game to Syed's Najd Najams by 59 runs, but managed to remain top in Group B on net run rate. Taking the strike first, Najd was bowled out for 154. Ghouse Khan hit 29 and Rizwan 25. Sharfuddin bagged 4-16, Shareef 3-28 and Riaz 2-17. Mir's started confidently, but Najd bowlers Saleem (3-27), Sohail (3-32) and Amir (2-26) were too hot to handle as Mir's were bundled out for 90 in 14 overs. Captain Shajahan was the only batsman to put up some resistance with 37. Saleem was adjudged Player of the Match. DMT Tabuk Titans thumped Delta Taif Tigers by 4 wickets to sit third in their group. Batting first, Taif Tigers posted 188-9 with Ijaz smashing 81 and Azher 35. Ali with 3-38, Shareef 2-24 were among the wickets. Shakeel 44, Shareef 47, Ali 35 and Atif 24 made the chase easy for Tabuk Titans. They were home for the loss of 6 wickets with 6 balls to spare. Shareef of DMT Tabuk Titans was named Player of the Match. The last match saw KDD Gizan Gladiators secure a much needed 7-wicket win against Mashal Abha Avians, but still missed out on the quarterfinals berth. Mashal scored 159-9 with Ijaz hitting 42, Hassan 33 and captain Yasin 28. Azharuddin returned 3-29, Javid 3-36 and Azhar 2-21. The Gladiators reached the target for the loss of 3 wickets, but took 9 overs, instead of 7, to miss a trip to the next stage. Mohsin with 76 and Javid 43 gave their best to finish the game early. Mohsin was adjudged Player of the Match.
