AHLI UNITED, NBK, KFH AND BOUBYAN BANK IN SEMIS
KBC League 2014
KUWAIT: Riding on a magnificent 56 runs by Rifkaz Ibrahim, Boubyan Bank upset the applecart of Kuwait Finance House to top the group in the KBC League 2014, an exclusive cricket tournament designed for bank teams affiliated to Kuwait Banks club and organized by Kuwait Cricket.
Boubyan skipper Faraaz won the toss and elected to bat first but the decision seemed to have an adverse effect as openers Aamer & Akbar were back in the pavilion as KFH bowlers Faraz & Irfan Bhatti bowled a hostile spell of seam bowling.
Rifkaz was soon joined by seasoned campaigner Hisham Mirza and the duo steadied the innings. The stylish Rifkaaz was in tremendous form as he cut and drove with authority to post an 84 runs partnership with Hisham. Hisham played a sensible knock of 40 runs with 6 boundaries. Boubyan scored 150 runs in their allotted 20 overs for the loss of 9 wickets. Zahid and Faraz accounted for 3 wickets each for KFH.
Chasing a decent total of 150, KFH lost Abdulla quite soon and it was the positive approach of Zahid and Faraz again which brought some life to KFH batting. Zahid was in excellent touch as he played a cameo knock of 32 runs in just 16 balls (3 fours and 12 sixes) while Faras remained the top scorer for KFH with a fine knock of 49 runs.
It was a tremendous effort by Boubyan fielders who ran out 4 KFH batsmen along with some fine bowling by Irfan who captured 3-37 which enabled Boubyan to score a 26 run victory over their fancied rival. Both the teams have qualified to the cup semi-final. Rifkaz who bowled well was adjudged as Player of the Match for his all round cricketing skills.
NBK notched a mammoth 144 runs victory over Gulf Bank to reach the last four of the KBC League 2014. Super batting display by Khurram who scored a scintillating 74 runs and a solid 38 runs by Shakhti enabled NBK to score 185 runs in 20 overs.
Kiran Lobo struck a sweetly timed 36 runs with 2 huge sixes to add more color to the NBK total. Bilal 2-14 and Tariq 2-33 were the best bowlers for Gulf Bank.
Gulf Bank batsmen were soon in trouble facing Khurram and were skittled out for 41 runs. Imran and Kiran supported Khurram by bagging 2 wickets each and partnered in a great victory. Khurram was declared Player of the Match for his excellent batting.
Ahli United Bank prevailed over Kuwait International Bank by 123 run margin to scale into the semi- final in the KBC League 2014. An enterprising partnership of 92 runs by Jagath and Dinesh helped AUB to post 182 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Jagath struck the cherry with awesome power to score a marvelous 65 runs with 4 hits to the boundary while Dinesh scored a classical 47 runs which had 6 beautifully timed hits to the fence. Nabeel Ghafoor launched a fierce attack to score a quickfire 26 runs in just 9 ball with 3 huge sixes. Mohsin took 2 wickets while Robin and Sheraz took a wicket each.
Kuwait International Bank withstood the AUB attack for 17 overs but were unable to score much as they were all out for 59 runs. Nabeel bowled well to take 3-9 while Dinesh captured 3 wickets with his slow bowling. Jagath was declared Player of the Match for his top notch batting display.