International Indian School, Jeddah (IISJ) and Al-Wadi School qualified for the semifinals from Group C and D respectively in the Under-13 Inter-School Cricket Championship, sponsored by Nestle Milo and jointly organized by the Western Province Cricket Association and Pakistan International School (ES). The matches are being played on the grassy outfield of the PIS-ES giving privilege to the batsmen with a four being counted as six and a six as 10. In the first match, PISJ Green openers went wild against the poor bowling attack of Al-Corniche International School. Fahad Naveed scored a dominating 63 off 18 balls while Fahad hit 34. The match took a twist in the fourth over when Asad took the crucial wicket of Fahad and finished his over by claiming another on the last ball. Mohammed Nasir remained unbeaten on 35 pushing the total to 103. In reply, Al-Corniche collapsed to 43 against a disciplined bowling of PISJ Green. Captain Bilal Javed could manage 16 runs. Noman took 2 for 1 while Hammad, Shoaib and Mohammad Nasir got 1 wicket each. In the second encounter, Al-Waha International School won against American International School (AIS). AIS decided to bat first and Saad Khan scored 33 from 12 balls. He was run out in the third over by a brilliant throw from Zubair. Waleed increased the tempo by scoring 21 runs off 7 balls. The team totalled 63 runs. Al-Waha reached the target with ease as its openers Anas (46) and Zubair (15) toyed with the bowling of AIS. Al-Waha won the match by 5 wickets. In the third match, Osama of Al-Wadi bowled Al-Waha's Anas and Faiz on the first two deliveries. Zaid played watchfully and scored 38 off 18 balls. Saif took two wickets in the second over. Helped by 33 extras Al-Waha reached 90. Al-Wadi then cruised to victory by losing two wickets. Ali Muneer scored 28 off 8 balls and Abdul Aziz knocked an unbeaten 34. Zubair and Faiz took 1 wicket each. In the fourth encounter of the day, Al-Wadi International School thumped American International School by 6 wickets. Opening the attack, Osama bowled a hostile over conceding only 1 run. AIS could only muster 55-2 with Waleed scoring 28 off 17 balls. Saif 1-20 and Safwan 1-8 were the wicket-takers. In reply, Al-Wadi's opener Ali Muneer was in a vicious mood, scoring the required runs in the first over bowled by Waleed with 2 sixes and 4 consecutive fours. In the fifth match, Al-Corniche tallied 90. Captain Bilal Javed scored a magnificent 62 off 20 balls while Omer Khan made 22 off 4 balls. Saad took 1-16. In reply, IISJ opener Hasan was bowled by Mansoor on the very first ball of the match. But Adil scored a splendid 53 off 13 balls. Saad Iqbal was the other contributor with 23 off 5 balls. IIS won the match by 4 wickets. In the clash of the giants, IIS beat PISJ Green to book a semifinal berth. PISJ lost its opener Fahad for 2, bowled by Adnan. Mohammed Nasir stemmed a critical partnership of 128 with Shoaib to put up a fighting total of 141. Shoaib scored 69 off 11 balls while Nasir hammered 59 off 12 balls. Saad Iqbal took 2-19. IISJ was off to a flier as the openers raced to 105 from only 24 deliveries. Hasan's 37 came off 9 balls while Adnan scored a breath-taking 79 off 15 balls. Saad Iqbal was unbeaten on 26. Hammad 2-40 and Shoaib 2-18 were the wicket takers. __
