MADINAH — United Stars, Saudi Oger, Hasnain and Shabab Al-Ayoun came out on top as Madinah Cricket Association (MCA) kicked off MoneyGram Cricket Ke Badshah T20 Tournament here. Thirteen of the 15 registered teams are participating in the tournament. The teams are divided into two groups. Group A comprises: Pak Eagle Cricket Club, United Stars, Sarendib Sports Club, Sky Wars, Hasnain-XI, Pepsi Madinah, Ettihad Sports. Group B consists of: Saudi Oger, Madinah Diamonds, Friends-XI, Shabab Al-Ayoun, Pak Madinah, Bismillah Cricket Club. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. United Stars routed Sarendib Cricket Club 114 runs. Batting first, United Stars put on 189. Ali scored 48 in 23 balls and Shafique 46 off 23 balls. Rameez claimed 4 wickets in his four overs. Chasing the target, Sarendib was bundled out for 75 with Murshid hitting 23. Khizer and Bashar shared six wickets. The second match saw Saudi Oger hand Bismillah-XI a 6-wicket thrashing. Bismillah put on 129 with Zubair smashing 57 off 44 balls. Captain Azher bagged four wickets and Abdullah three. Saudi Oger was home in the 18th over for the loss of five wickets. Maqsood, Sajid and Rashid contributed 35, 38 and 26 runs, respectively. Skipper Younus bagged two wickets. Hasnain-XI beat debutant Ettihad Sports by 38 runs. Opting to bat first, Hasnain scored 160 with contributions from Israr (30), Aamir (33) and Khurram (25). In reply, Ettihad fell for 122. Abdul Rahman hit 24 and Talha Fayyaz 22. Aamir and Umer claimed two wickets each. Hasnain won its second outing as well with a 41-run win over Sarendib Sports Club. Hasnain posted 160 with Mushtaq (50) and Israr (47) contributing the major chunk. Sarfraz bagged three wickets. In reply, Sarendib could manage only 119 with Rameez scoring 30 and Israr 22 not out. Another debutant Shabab Al-Ayoun beat Bismillah-XI. Bismillah notched 138 runs. Ghulam Yasin scored 45. Afsar claimed five wickets. Shabab Al-Ayoun achieved the target in the 18th over. — SG
