Nasir Mehmood Abbasi RIYADH — Riyadh Cricket Association and the Eastern Province Cricket Association shared the honors in Inter-City matches played in Dammam recently. While RCA won one 40-over game and a T20 match, EPCA won the other 40-over match and the T20 game. The matches were sponsored by Alhamrani Fuchs. In the first 40-over match, RCA President-XI beat EPCA President-XI by 16 runs. RCA President-XI won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers Nouman Asghar and Abdul Wahab scored 118 for the first wicket. Abdul Wahab added 64 and Nouman 47. RCA was eventually all out for 284. Rizwan Manzoor held the innings together in the middle order to score 63, while Omar Zafar played well for his 28. Sadiq grabbed 3 wickets, while Osman Ghani and Tajamal Hayat bagged 2 each for EPCA. In reply, EPCA was all out for 268. Safiullah was the top scorer with 64. Other notable scorers included Tajamal Hayat (49), Sadiq Rafiq (33) and Murad Khan (26). Abdul Wahab took four wickets, Shoaib bagged two, while Latafat, Rizwan Manzoor and Sajid Khan picked up a wicket each. Abdul Wahab was declared Man-of-the-Match for his all-round performance. In the second 40-over match, EPCA-XI beat RCA-XI by six wickets. Electing to bat first, RCA was all out for 228 in 37.5 overs. It started aggressively with openers Nadeem Babar and Nasir Abbasi putting on 57. After the fall of Abbasi (21), RCA started losing wickets. Babar hit 55 and Muzaffar Majeed remained unbeaten on 54. Rizwan Qayyum was the pick of the bowlers for EPCA as he took four wickets. Khawar Sohail and Nasir Khan also chipped in with two wickets each, while Asif Mughal and Bilal Butt bagged one each. Chasing a modest target, EPCA lost its first wicket early, but Monawar Chaudhry (89) and Sohrab (66 not out) held the innings together. Rizwan Qayyum and Ahmed Rauf also played well and scored 21 and 24, respectively, and helped EPCA achieve the target in 36 overs. Kamran Hadi took 2 wickets, while Nadeem Babar and Arsalan Rana claimed one each. Monawar Chaudhry was named the Man-of-the-Match. In the first T20 match, RCA Patron-XI beat EPCA-XI by 18 runs. RCA Patron XI batted first and scored 244-9. RCA openers Nadeem Babar and Nasir Abbasi started aggressively and gave their team a blistering start with 89 in six overs. Nadeem Babar scored 45 off 21 balls and Nasir Abbasi 38 off 18 balls. Fahad Malik scored 36, Irshad 27 and Imran Younous remained unbeaten on 19. In reply, EPCA openers Shahbaz and Salman also started aggressively and scored 26 runs off the first over bowled by Ibrar Ul Haq. But EPCA kept losing wickets at regular intervals and was eventually all out for 226. Waqas scored 53, Shahbaz 50 and Waheed 32. Zahid Mir grabbed five wickets and was declared the Man-of-the-Match. In the second T20 match, EPCA Youth-XI beat RCA Youth-XI by 6 wickets. RCA scored 134 in 20 overs. Iftikhar remained not out on 40, Abdul Salam scored 35 and Kausar made 17. Danyal, Hamza and Muneer claimed a wicket each. EPCA reached the target in the last over. Iftikhar took two wickets, while Abdul Salam and Kausar bagged one each. During the traditional reception dinner, shields were exchanged between RCA and EPCA officials. Speaking on the occasion, RCA CEO Nadeem Babar said the two associations are the biggest in the Kingdom and their cooperation is long lasting. Prizes were also distributed among the top achievers. RCA Senior Vice President Abdul Karim Khan thanked EPCA Executive Committee members for their hospitality.
