RCA beat YACA 2-0 in the Intercity Series
Riyadh Cricket Association (RCA) won both the matches in the intercity event against Yanbu Al Sinaiyah Cricket Association (YACA). The intercity matches were played at MYAS Cricket Ground in Yanbu.
Group Picture RCA XI
In the T20 Day Night match played on Thursday 06 December 2012, RCA XI beat YACA XI by a narrow margin of 2 runs. RCA XI Captain Mohammed Nadeem Babar won the toss and elected to bat first. Abdul Wahab and Nasir Abbasi opened the innings for RCA XI. RCA XI lost their first wicket when Abdul Wahab was caught behind for only 4 runs. After the loss of first wicket, Nasir Abbasi and Salman Butt played aggressively and played strokes all around the beautiful MYAS Cricket Ground. Nasir Abbasi was next to go with 17 of 11 balls. After the fall of Nasir Abbasi’s wicket, YACA XI came back strongly by taking few quick wickets. Rizwan Manzoor held the RCA XI innings in the middle overs and scored 36 of 37 balls, Salman Butt made 23 and Abdul Qadir 19. Sarfraz got 2 wickets while Nadeem, Afzal and Naseem grabbed 1 wicket each. At the end, RCA XI posted a fighting total of 139/8. Chasing the target of 140, YACA XI started well. Iftikhar was the top scorer with 40 runs; Sarfraz also played well and remained unbeaten on 34. RCA XI Captain Mohammed Nadeem Babar bowled a brilliant spell of fast bowling with 4 wickets including a hat trick. Rizwan Manzoor and Abdul Wahab also took 1 wicket each. RCA XI fielded excellently and took some brilliant catches. Abdul Salam in particular was brilliant in the field and took 2 great catches. In the end, YACA XI fell short of target by only 2 runs. Mohammed Nadeem Babar was declared Man of the Match for his fine bowling performance.
Mohammed Nadeem Babar, Man of the Match of T20 Match
In the 40-over match played on Friday 07 December 2012, RCA XI again beat YACA XI by 19 runs. RCA XI Captain Mohammed Nadeem Babar won his second toss in the row and decided to bat first. Mohammed Nadeem Babar and Nasir Abbasi opened the innings, but Mohammed Nadeem Babar got out when the score was just 18. Nasir Abbasi was next to go when his individual score was 14. Omar Zafar played a patient knock of 60 runs. There was a mini collapse in the middle overs, but Abdul Wahab 65, Imtiaz Butt 33, Muzaffar Majeed 22 and Kamran Hadi 16 held the innings together and managed to take the team’s total to 261 in 40 overs. Israr bowled well for YACA XI and took 5 wickets. Sarfraz also chipped in with 3 wickets. YACA XI started their chase well and put 79-run partnership for the first wicket. After the loss of the first wicket, YACA XI lost wickets in regular intervals thanks to a great bowling and fielding by RCA XI. Afzal was the highest scorer with 52 runs, Ahmedullah made 46, Ijaz 38 and Abdullah 28. Zeeshan Haider destroyed the YACA XI batting line up by taking 5 wickets. Muzaffar Majeed also bowled with great control and took 3 wickets. Kamran Hadi and Mohammed Nadeem Babar took 1 wicket each. Zeeshan Haider was declared Man of the Match.
Zeeshan Haider, Man of the Match of 40-over Match
