JEDDAH — Afaq Ahmed batted magnificently to help Honda Cricket Club defeat by 7 wickets My Care Hala in the final and emerge as the MoneyGram Cricket Ke Badsha 2015 champion here at the WPCA Eskan Ground recently. Pak Shaheen-XI trounced Pak National and won the third place trophy. The nation-wide championship was sponsored by MoneyGram Money Transfer Company and organized by Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC). Kashif Shafeeq of My Care Hala was adjudged Man of the Tournament. My Care Hala opted to bat first and posted 191-8 as Shahbaz Rasheed top scored with 75 off 50 balls with 5 sixes and 5 fours. Qamar Abbas compiled 35 in 18 balls, Amjad 21, Babar Hussain 14 and Kashif Shafeeq 10. Salman grabbed 2-35, while Khawar Abbas, Zahid and Kashif took one wicket each. After a shaky start Honda CC achieved the victory target making 192 with 7 wickets in hand and with 3 balls to spare. Afaq Ahmed played a gem of an innings remaining unbeaten on 73 in 50 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours. Mohsin supported him with a match-winning partnership of 136 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket. Mohsin compiled an unbeaten 61 in 41 balls with 8 fours. Adnan Liyaqat and Jameel took one wicket each. Arshad Chohan and Osama Nadwi were the official umpires, while Shakeel Razzaq was the official scorer and Khaleel Kazi the match referee. Naushad did the running commentary. In the match for the third place, batting first Pak National posted 110-9 against Pak Shaheen-XI as Tahir Mushtaq scored 31 and Adil Khan 23. Fahad took 3-26 and Abdulazeez 2-26. Abdulsalam and Abdulwahab accounted for one wicket each. Pak Shaheen, in reply, reached 114 for 3 in just 51 balls. Abdulwaheed hit 22, Abrarulhaq 45, Aashiq 15 and Faisal Khan 23 (in 8 balls). Mohammed Asif claimed 3 scalps for 9 runs. The match was supervised by Waseeq Sherwani and Attaurrehman, while Dr. Sayed Ziauddin was the match referee and Aamir Choudhry the scorer. The prize distribution ceremony was graced by MoneyGram representatives Youssef Tarek, Middle East marketing manager and Max Palethorpe and Mohammed Nasir from Radar Company. Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC) was represented by CEO Nadeem Ahmed, Qasim Naqvi, Sadiqul Islam and Rahat Choudhry. Other officials who attended the function were Zulfikhar Choudhry, Khurshid Zafar, Ilyas Mustafa, Sohail Shah and Dr. Ziauddin (all WPCA), Iqbal Choudhry and Akhtar Hussain (JCA), Tahir Karamat (EPCA), Zahid Haider (MCA), Liyaqat (JRCA) and Khawar Abbas (RCA). Nadwi thanked MoneyGram company for sponsoring the event, thanked the regional officials, umpires, teams and all those who helped conduct this successful four-month-long cricket festival which saw 330 clubs, 4,900 players and around 280 officials compete and work hard at 68 grounds all over the Kingdom. SPIA awarded SCC with the best Sports Event trophy. He was also thankful to Saudi Gazette, Arab News, Malayalam News and Urdu News for the support. Participating shields were awarded to various associations. The winner's trophy was handed over to Honda skipper Kahsif Raza, while the runner-up cup was presented to My Care Hala captain Babar Hussain. The third position Cup was given to Khawar Abbas on behalf of Pak Shaheen. Man of the Tournament award went to Kashif Shafeeq and the Man of the Final to Afaq Ahmed. Umpires, scorers and match referees were given cash prizes for their services. — SG
