JEDDAH — The Kanoo Premier Morning League kicked off in style with five matches played in the 1st week. The league is being sponsored by Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo Group for the 22nd year in succession and is organized by Jeddah Cricket Association. In the 1st week matches Ittihad and ECU Lines thrashed their respective opponents Reel & Rom and Al-Khulais by 112 and 155 runs respectively, while Al-Boroj and Jamoom Fighters had identical 7-wicket wins over their respective opponents Hyderabad Green and Kashmir-XI. Pak Young did not have to sweat it out as it got a walkover since its opponent KAIA failed to turn up. Ittihad beat Reel & Rom by 112 runs. Ittihad put up an impressive score of 220 for 5. Rizwan scored a scintillating 108 off 55 balls with 7 fours and 9 sixes. He was given good support by Fahad with 50 off 21 balls (5 fours, 3 sixes) and Azam (28). Qasim picked up 2 for 31. In reply, Reel & Rom was bundled out for a paltry 108 to give Ittihad a huge win by 112 runs. Amjad, Qasim, Wajid and Waheed were the only ones to reach double figures as others crumbled to pace and spin of Fahad (3 for 10), Azam (3 for 11) and Waheed (2 for 23). ECU Lines beat Al-Khulais by 151 runs. Batting first, ECU Lines managed to post a fighting score of 223 for 8. Javed (79) led from the front with an elegant knock which included 5 sixes and 8 fours. Umar added 42 (6 fours, 2 sixes), Junaid 20 and Manzoor 25. Irshad was the lone bowler to command respect as picked up 3 for 31. Al-Khulais was all out for 72. Besides Adnan (14) none of the other batsmen reached double figures. Manzoor bowled brilliantly taking 4 for 24, while Junaid Butt (3 for 7) and Abdul Rahman (2 for 20) gave him good support. Al-Boroj beat Hyderabad Green by 7 wickets. Hyderabad Green was restricted to 145 all out with Saifullah (27), Wali (32) and Zia Ullah (25) being the main contributors. Yasin and Shafiq picked up 3 wickets each for 23 and 27 runs, respectively. In reply, Al-Boroj comfortably reached the target of 149 for 3 to win by 7 wickets with Asghar Ali scoring 57 aided with 8 hits to the fence and Mohsin remaining unbeaten on 27. Jameel, Saif and Wali picked up a wicket each. Jamoom Fighters beat Kashmir-XI by 7 wickets. Kashmir-XI raced to an exciting score of 211 for 5 thanks mainly to Owais Malik, who notched up a brilliant 96 off 46 balls with 11 fours and 6 sixes and received good support from the blade of Abdul Rahman (30) and Sami Ullah (26). Saeed, Umar, Azam and M. Saeed picked up a wicket each. However, their excitement was short lived as Jamoom Fighters lived up to their reputation and won handsomely by 7 wickets scoring 212 for 3. Usman Butt scored 61 off 27 balls (7 fours, 2 sixes) as he teamed up with Arshad (55 off 31 balls - 5 fours). Naeem (23), Waseem (28 not out) and Usman (24 not out) gave them excellent support down the order. Bilal, M. Ali and Abid picked up a wicket each.
