RIYADH — Shakir's brilliant all-round performance (54 not out and two wickets) guided Kanoo Travels to a facile nine-wicket victory over AXA in the semifinals of the Kanoo Inter-Division Cricket Tournament here recently. Sent in to bat by Travels skipper Syed Zakiuddin, AXA started badly. It lost its opener Yousuf very early. However, the other opening batsman Arief (20), along with middle-order batsmen Azam (27) and Hakeem (11) held the AXA innings together and posted 106-7 in their allotted overs. Shakir (2-22) and Vicky (2-19) bowled well and were well supported by Riju, Taqi and Zaki, who bagged a wicket each. In reply Travels started the chase in the right earnest with both openers Riyaz (23 not out) and Shafee (18) putting on 32 runs for the opening wicket. After Shafee's dismissal, Shakir took center stage and blasted AXA bowlers to all parts of the ground. He remained unbeaten on 54 (4X4, 4X6) to guide Travels to an emphatic nine-wicket victory with more than 15 balls to spare. Asif Sheikh took the lone wicket for AXA. Shakir was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match for his brilliant all-round performance.
