Rustam Ali RIYADH — Riyadh Cricket Association (RCA) started Champions League which is the first ever tournament of its kind in the history of Riyadh cricket. This event is being organized by RCA in collaboration with Cricket Saudi International. Al-Kharaj League won the opening match defeating Al-Majmah League by 24 runs. Bilal Wani, the leading run scorer of the last season, smashed a brilliant 82 off 55 balls and Afzal scored 56 off 30 balls after Al-Kharaj League elected to bat. Ayaz's 39 off 20 balls helped Al-Kharaj post 213-5. Abrar, Dawood, Waheed, Mudasir and Saif took 1 wicket each. Majmah League started well as Waheed scored 69 off 33 balls but it kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Qadir (33), Farooq (23) and Mudasir (14) batted well but the team was all out for 189 in 18.4 overs. Muzaffar bowled an outstanding spell picking up 4 for 33. Imtiaz took 3 wickets. Nadeem Babar, Shakeel and Ayaz claimed one each. Bilal Wani was named Man of the Match. Dirab League won a thriller against Huraymala League by 6 wickets. Batting first, Huraymala scored an astonishing 224-7. Tila Yousafzai scored a brisk 63 off 33 Balls, while Asif Butt (44) Nadeem Shah (32) steered the team to a big total. Saqib Saleem grabbed 2 wickets. Dirab got a quick start from openers as Nasir Abbasi blasted 62 off 22 balls and Waseem Jutt smashed 52 off 33 balls. Yasir and Irshad took the team to victory in the 19th over with 41 and 39 runs, respectively. Imran Younous took 2 wickets. Nasir Abbasi was declared Man of the Match. Hayer League outplayed Diriyah League by 159 runs. Batting first after winning the toss Hayer League scored 243. Altaf Tahir scored 105 off 62 balls and Ishaq Ahmed scored a brisk 85 off 38 balls. Shoaib, Anis and Rustam grabbed 1 wicket each. In reply, Diriyah League was all out for 83. Raza Husnain 19 and Rustam 12 were the main scores. Javed Khan and Altaf Tahir grabbed 3 wickets each, Wahid Ullah picked up 2, while Atif and Aziz claimed 1 each. Altaf Tahir was named Man of the Match.
