Safra, winner of last season's all major events, once again confirmed its capabilities by qualifying for the final against Mahmood Saeed in the Saudi Pan Gulf Level-1 40-Over Cricket Championship, which is organized by Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) and sponsored by Saudi Pan Gulf. Mahmood Saeed, back in top slot, ran over SGB Baroom comfortably. Owais, Nadeem Amin and Rashid Butt scored half centuries. Safra defeated its arch-rivals Crown Steel by six wickets in the first semifinal. Crown Steel, all out in the 37th over, however managed to set a fighting target of 232 on astroturf wicket. The determined Rashid Butt played a vital role in building up the total by scoring 70 runs, which included 2 sixes and 2 fours. Baber pounded 44 runs and put up a partnership of 80 with Rashid Butt. Nadeem Butt and Rashid Jr. added 32 and 20. Kaleem Shah removed the prime pair of Crown in the first over and ended up with 2 for 28 while Mohsin Mirza, Shakeel and Iftikhar claimed 2 wickets each giving away 35, 39, and 46 runs respectively. Chasing the target, Safra batsmen made a confident start. Owais produced an exhilarating knock of 77, which included 14 fours. Captain Nadeem Amin stormed in with an unbeaten 69 which had 9 fours and a six. Mohsin Mirza added 35 to give Safra a 4-wicket win. Zaheer captured 2 for 14 while Shafiq and Abid shared one wicket each. In the second semifinal, SGB Baroom was pegged down by the bowling attack of Mahmood Saeed. Amjad, producing some extra pace and swing, was literally unplayable. In his devastating spell, he claimed 3 wickets for just 4 runs. Mahfooz supported him from the other end and captured 3 for 38. Amir Sardar (20) and Ghaoyur (13) wrapped up some honor and managed to reach in double figures. SGB Barroom was eventually dismissed for a paltry 86. Pursuing the skimpy target, Mahmood Saeed fell into a spot as wickets fell at regular intervals. Struggling at 31 for 5, it managed to achieve the target in the 16th over thanks to Amjad for his quick-fire 20. Usman and Farooq too supported with 17 and 20. Sirjeevan Kumar did most of the damage by taking 2 for 24 while Zeeshan, Zahid Anwar and Waseeq Sherwani seized one wicket each. Owais of Safra and Amjad of Mahmood Saeed were selected for the Man of the Match awards. Syed Azam, Shabir Ahmad, Arshad Chohan and Tahir Bashir supervised the matches. __
