Saudi Arabia: Cloud7, Enerco and Pan Gulf are winners of SCC T20 Youm Al Watni Cup
Eastern Province Cricket Association (EPCA) Dammam recently organized the 1st edition of the Youm Al Watni T20 Cricket Cup sponsored by Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC). SCC T20 Youm Al Watni Cricket Tournament began on October 9, 2020, with 40 teams participating divided into 3 divisions. Premier division consisted of 10 teams, Prime division consisted of 10 teams and First division consisted of 20 teams.
Quarter Finals of first division and semi-finals of all divisions participating in the SCC T20 Youm Al Watni Tournament were held at EPCA grounds on November 6, 2020. Results are as follows:
Quarter Final 1 – First Division: Khobar Rangers C.C. (KRCC) defeated Khobar Gymkhana C.C. (KGCC) by 7 wickets. KGCC set a target of 142/5 runs. KRCC easily chased the target with wonderful innings played by Waheed Ur Rehman scoring 63(44) hitting 11 boundaries.
Quarter Final 2 – First Division: Adpco Friends C.C. defeated Young Guns C.C. by 6 wickets. Batting first, Young Guns C.C. set a target of 147/7 in 20 overs with Tauseef Ali scoring 69(44). Adpco Friends convincingly chased the target in 14.1 overs with the help of blistering innings played by Hamid Ali scoring 61(35) hitting 10 boundaries and being awarded the man of the match.
Quarter Final 3 – First Division: Cloud 7 C.C. qualified for semi-finals after defeating Young Stars C.C. in a one-sided match by 8 wickets. Young Stars batted first scored 112/9 while Cloud 7 C.C. chased the target easily in 9.3 overs. Vindeed Mohanan was awarded man of the match for his performance of grabbing 3 wickets in 4 overs giving away only 11 runs.
Quarter Final 4 – First Division: Shayan 11 C.C. won by 7 wickets chasing 142 runs in 17.2 overs against Eastern Warriors C.C. Iqrar Ahmed was awarded the man of the match for his excellent performance of 69*(48) hitting 8 boundaries. He was well-supported by Muhammad Fahad who scored 43(34).
Semi-Final 1 – First Division: Adpco Friends C.C. beat Khobar Rangers C.C. by 7 wickets and qualified for the finals. Khobar Rangers C.C. scored 174/6 in the allotted 20 overs which was chased by Adpco Friends C.C. in 17.0 overs. Vasim Izhar played powerful innings of 51(23) hitting 7 boundaries and 3 sixes.
Semi-Final 2 – First Division: Cloud 7 C.C. won by 8 wickets chasing 119 against Shayan 11 C.C. Abdul Sattar Khader Aziz was awarded the man of the match for his magical spell of grabbing 4 wickets in 4 overs for 23 runs.
Semi-Final 1 – Prime Division: Enerco C.C. beat DHL Snas C.C. by 33 runs to qualify for the finals. Batting first, Enerco C.C. scored 221/3 in 20 overs. Man of the match was awarded to Kamran Shah for his powerful innings of 86(38) hitting 11 fours and 2 sixes. He was well-supported by Asad Abbas 54(32) and Shamas Cheema 46(31).
Semi-Final 2 – Prime Division: Intelligent Hawks C.C. defended 159 runs in a nail-biting semi-final beating Space Travels Falcon C.C. by 34 runs. Man of the match was awarded to Nisar Ahmed for his responsible 43(33) supported by Amir Goraya 36(35).
Semi-Final 1 – Premier Division: Pan Gulf C.C. easily defended 175 runs and won by 51 runs against Kanoo C.C. qualifying the final of the premier division. Kashif Riaz was awarded the man of the match for his outstanding performance of 70(41) hitting 11 fours and 1 six. Kashif Abbas took 3 wickets giving 20 runs in 4 overs.
Semi-Final 2 – Premier Division: Pak Saudi C.C. chased 173 runs in 19 overs set by Intelligent Qalandars C.C. Qayyum Meher scored 77(53) hitting 4 fours and 2 sixes but a man of the match was awarded to Nasir Khan for his all-round performance. He took 2 wickets and scored 59(31) hitting 5 fours and 1 six making sure his team qualified for the finals.
The final matches were played on 13 November 2020 and the results are as follows
First Division – Adpco Friends C.C. batted first and scored 140/6 in 20 overs Cloud 7 C.C chased it down in style by scoring 143/2 in 14.2 Overs and won the SCC T20 Youm Al Watni Cup (First Division). Muhammed Shafi scored a match-winning 59(39) and remained unbeaten for the fifth time in the tournament. Vineedh Mohanan’s 3/30 in 4 overs earned him the man of the match trophy.
Prime Division – Enerco C.C. beat Intelligent Hawks C.C. by 50 runs and bagged the SCC T20 Youm Al Watni Cup (Prime Division). Batting first, Enerco posted an impressive total of 192/5 in 20 overs thanks to scintillating unbeaten innings of 75(42) by the man of the match, Shamas Sajjad Cheema. In response, Hawks folded to 142 in 17.5 overs. Akhtar Ali was the pick of the bowlers with 2/17 off his 4 overs.
Premier Division – Pan Gulf C.C. beat Pak Saudi C.C. by 9 Wickets to be crowned the winners of SCC T20 Youm Al Watni (Premier Division). Sajid Khan’s 2/23 off 4 overs helped Pan Gulf restrict Pak Saudi to a small total of 116 (all-out) in 17.2 overs. Pan Gulf cruised home in just 10 overs thanks to its openers Kashif Abbas 52(22) and Kashif Riaz 50*(30) who both scored half-centuries. Kashif Abbas was declared the man of the match.
First Division’s wicketkeeper-batsman Shahil Ahammed (Cloud 7 CC) was the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 370 runs in 7 matches.
Top bowling honors for the tournament were shared by Nasir Mehmood (Pak Saudi CC) of Premier Division and Vineedh Mohanan (Cloud 7 CC) of First Division who bagged 13 wickets each at an average of 14.92 and 16.77 respectively.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Prasidh, Kuldeep limit South Africa to 270 after De Kock's hundred
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India fought back gallantly through Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav after Quinton de Kock struck his 23rd hundred, keeping South Africa to a manageable 270 in the third and series-deciding final ODI, here Saturday.
India won the toss after judging the spin of the coin incorrectly 20 times in a row. They had little hesitation in inserting the Proteas into bat, a clear indication of dew factor dominating the thought.
After Arshdeep Singh sent back Ryan Rickelton early, De Kock (106, 89b, 8x4, 6x4) struck his seventh century against India and put on 113 runs off 124 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (48, 67b) as the visitors moved to a healthy position.
De Kock was severe on Prasidh (4/66), who erred on length continuously in his first spell (2-0-27-0). The left-hander biffed the pacer for 6, 6, 4 in his second over to milk 18 runs.
The 32-year-old quickly pounced on anything that was short, and pacers Prasidh and Harshit offered him plenty of feed on his pet areas.
Bavuma was more sedate, and made runs through those typical dabs and jabs, occasionally unfurling a drive of elan.
De Kock moved to fifty in 42 balls, and never let the tempo down reaching his hundred in 79 balls.
India found temporary relief when Ravindra Jadeja induced a false slash from Bavuma to get caught by Virat Kohli at point.
The tourists got another move on through a 54-run partnership between De Kock and Matthew Breetzkle for the third wicket, and at 168 for two in 28 overs they were in a good position to press on.
But Breetzke's punishment of part-time spinner Tilak Varma forced a rethink in the Indian camp, as skipper KL Rahul brought back Prasidh for a second spell.
What a masterstroke it turned out to be! The Karnataka man broke the back of South Africa’s top and middle order in an exceptional second spell (4-0-11-3).
Breetzke was the first man to go, trapped plumb in front with a straight one and four balls later Aiden Markram uppishly chipped a fuller delivery to Kohli at short covers.
Prasidh soon castled De Kock, whose ugly cross-batted swipe failed to connect a full length delivery from the pacer.
All of a sudden, SA found themselves at a shaky 199 for five, losing three wickets in the space of three overs.
Once Prasidh was done away with the top and middle-order, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (4/41) took over and mopped up the tail as SA fell short of even a par total on this track.
