RIYADH — Dirab League emerged champion of RCA Champions League, which was organized by Riyadh Cricket Association (RCA) in collaboration with Cricket Saudi International. RCA Champions League was organized for the first time in the history of Riyadh cricket and turned out to be a great success. The tournament was played in exclusively designed color kits. Cricket fans turned out in numbers to witness the Champion League matches and urged RCA to continue this tournament every season. In the final, played at RCA Ground 5, Dirab League beat Al-Majma'ah League by 6 wickets. After winning the toss, Dirab League elected to field first which surprised many but it turned out to be a good decision. Al-Majma'ah League openers started well with Abdul Waheed scoring 54 and Ibrar Ul Haq 24, but after the loss of the openers, Dirab bowlers kept the pressure and restricted Al-Majma'ah to 188-7 in the stipulated 20 overs. Abdul Qadir showed some resistance in the middle order and remained unbeaten on 47, while Awais added 26. Dirab League captain's strategy of bowling all 20 overs by the spinners proved successful. Adnan Ahmed and Abdul Mannan picked up 2 wickets each, while Iftikhar Ali, Irshad Mubashir and Saqib Saleem bagged one each. Dirab League started the chase aggressively and reached the target in 16.3 overs. Waseem Jutt played an outstanding innings of 108 off 50 balls, while Irshad Mubashir hit a crucial 35. Ibrar ul Haq, Dawood Khan, Abdul Waheed and Hamza Abbasi took one wicket each. Waseem Jutt was declared Man of the Final for his outstanding innings. RCA CEO Mohammed Nadeem Babar graced the final. He appreciated both the teams and RCA Patron in Chief Prince General Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud for his support to RCA. He also extended thanks to RCA Chairman Mohammed Anwar and President Tariq Javed for the promotion of cricket in the region.
