In a final dominated by the bowlers, Kuwait Entertainment City lifted the Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah Cricket Trophy by defeating the fancied Gulfspic by 80 runs in the Halliburton Classic league 50 overs tournament played on Friday, 21st December, 2001 at the Ahmadi cricket ground.

Skipper, Yasin of KEC won the toss and elected to bat first on a freezing and cloudy morning. Gulfspic opening attack of Ali and Saleem sent the openers Khalid and Nawaz back to pavilion with only nine runs on the board. A hostile spell of fast bowling by Ali saw the back of Arshad and Liaqat with their individual contributions of 13 and 19 respectively.

Hasan edged Ali to Shoeb in the slips for nought and Saleem induced Yasin to hole out to Vishwas for nine. Reeling at 66-5, the dependable Javed Choudhary with 49 and Shehzad on 24 gave some respectability to KEC scores. Aqeel wagged the KEC tail with an unbeaten 15 to take the KEC total to 183.

Ali with four for 34, Saleem with two for 49 and Mudassar with three for 29 were the most successful bowlers for Gulfspic.Wicket- keeper, Sri Kumar supported the seamers well to claim four scalps behind the stumpst.

A fighter to the core, KEC skipper Yasin removed Vishwas and Tariq cheaply. Ali 32 and Dinesh 23 made a smart recovery and when it appeared that Gulfspic would easily cruise to an easy victory, Yasin trapped Dinesh leg before and Saleem removed Ali and Shoeb quickly.

Later a masterly spell by Aqeel swallowed the Gulfspic tail which included experienced players like Javed Kaloo, Ayoub Shaikh, Saleem Kazi and Sri Kumar with a fine spell of 8-0-32-4. Khalid 1 for 26, Yasin 3 for 30, Saleem 2 for 14 were the other successful bowlers for KEC.

KOC cricket committee chairman, Mr. Faleh Al-Ajmi presented momentoes to Mr. Abdul Rahman Al-Jaber, Supdt. Community Services (KOC) representing Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah and M/s. Halliburton Overseas Ltd. which was collected by M/s. Jatin Kaura and Ken Montero on behalf of Mr. Jay Leighton.

Mr. Salim Khan, an ardent supporter of cricket gave away the man of the match trophy to Aqeel of KEC . Ali of Gulfspic was given a special prize for another brilliant performance in the match. Other guests who graced the occasion included, M/s. Hafiz Sultan & Shehabuddin. Mr. Al-Ajmi thanked KOC and Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah for the patronage given to promote cricket in Ahmadi and Mr. A/Rahman Al-Jaber for his continued support.

Gulf SPIC and Kuwait Entertainment City qualified to play in the final after an eight team league phase of 50 over matches.

Soon to follow is the KOC Premier League contest by the above teams plus two overs. The KOC will stage two more tournaments called the Super League and the Challengers' Leage.

With Kuwait competing in two Under 17 Asia Cups and one Under 19 Asia Cup junior cricket in Kuwait is on a roll.

The KOC has also staged two under age tournament with points tables following:

Under 15 (Single league of 6 teams - 30 over matches)
                             M      W     L     B     P        NRR
1. Gulf Consult              4      4     0     4     20      +5.547
2. Kuwait Oil Co             4      4     0     4     20      +2.208
3. Eagle CC                  4      2     2     2     10      +0.842
4. Indian Central S.         4      2     2     2     10      -0.829
5. CCC Tally                 4      0     4     0      0      -3.511
6. FAInd Pvt S.              4      0     4     0      0      -4.064

Under 19 10 teams Two leagues - 30 Over matches
                       M      W     L    B      P       NRR
Group A
1. United Indian S.    3       3    0    2      14     +1.194
2. Indian Central S.   3       2    1    2      10     +0.320
3. Kuwait Oil Co       2       1    1    1       5     +3.217
4. FA Ind Pvt S.       3       1    2    1       5     +0.472
5. Gulf Pak S.         3       0    3    0       0     -7.121

Group B
1. Pak Sch & Coll      3       2    1    2      10     +1.931
2. Gulf Indian S.      3       2    1    2      10     +0.333
3. Ind. Pub Boys       3       3    1    1       9     +0.101
4. Pak Eng S.          3       1    2    1       5     +0.157
5. Jabrya Ind S.       2       0    2    0       0     -3.368

M=Matches W=Wins L=Losses B=Bonus points P=Total Points NRR=Net run rate.

McDonalds made their debut into Ahmadi cricket with a bang clinching their first title when they defeated Rising Stars by five wickets in the final of the Al-Babtain Challenger Trophy cricket tournament sponsored by Kuwait Paints Co. and organized by KOC Cricket Committee on Friday, 04 January , 2002 at the Ahmadi cricket ground.

Batting first, Rising Stars was given a flying start by their openers Karan and Saber. Saber batted beautifully scoring 61 while Karan contributed 27 in the opening stand of 88. It was Shamshad in a devastating spell of 8-0-42-5 that saw the initiative taken away from Rising Stars from 87 without loss to 124 for six. A whirlwind 42 by Suresh later enabled Rising Stars to post a fighting total of 199 off 36 overs. Deepak with 16 and Francis with nine were the other contributors for them. Other wicket takers for McDonalds were Ali 1/31, Najeeb 1/15, Imtiyaz 2/9 and Iqbal ˝..

Chasing 200 for victory, Abdulla and Juned notched up 95 runs off only 11 overs. Abdulla with 53 and Juned with 45 executed some beautiful drives and pulls with perfection hitting the bowlers all over the ground. After their dismissal, another quick wicket that of Asif gave Rising Stars some hope of coming back into the game but Shamshad and Iqbal thwarted all their efforts. Iqbal made 28 and Shamshad 45. Ishtiaq and Najeeb completed the formalities in the 32nd over.

Mr. Roger Nicholls, Technical Manager of Kuwait Paints Co., Mr. Farooq Sayed and Mr. Habibullah of Al-Babtain Group gave away trophies and prizes to the winners and runners-up teams. Mr. Roger was presented a memento by Mr. Shetty on behalf of KOC CC. Shamshad of McDonalds was adjudged the man-of-the-match by the match referee, Babuji George.

Brief Scores: Rising Stars 199 all out (Karan 27, Saber 61, Abid 11, Deepak 16, Suresh 42; Shamshad 5-42, Ali 1-31, Najeeb 1-15, Imtiyaz 2-9, Iqbal 1-2) lost to McDonalds 202-5 ( Abdullah 53, Juned 45, Iqbal 28, Shamshad 45, Ishtiaq 11; Francis 2/57, Abid 1/48, Salim 1/26, Harmeet 1/13).

A superlative performance by the Indian XI gave them a well deserved victory by 11 runs over the Pakistan XI in a thrilling festival cricket match held at the Ahmadi Cricket Grounds on Friday, 18th January.

This event, which is the highly prominent annual Mirza Cup tie between the best of the select India XI and Pakistan XI cricketers of Kuwait is held in the memory of Late Mirza M. Bashirullah and sponsored by Mr. Shahid M. Mirza, chairman of KCA council. This 50 over festival full day match was organized by the KOC Cricket Committee.

India XI Captain Ghayoor Ahmed under the able guidance of Manager Sudhakar Shetty, vice chairman of KOC CC and dynamic coach, Shoaib Sayed decided to bat first at the Unity Oval after winning the toss.

Ghayoor himself opened with Shahid Zaman as his partner on the chilly morning. The Pakistan XI led by Haji Javed under the experienced Manager Ch. M. Sarwar, Treasurer of KOC CC and veteran cricketer coach Maqbool Ahmed opened the attack with Khalid and Azmat. Both these fast bowlers along with their third paceman Nadeem generated plenty of pace and bounce with the morning winds and wet conditions.

The tight and accurate bowling coupled with sharp fielding by the Pakistan XI put the Indian openers on the defensive and restricted them to only 31 runs in the first 11 overs. It was Azmat in the 14th over who got the first break for the Pakistan team when he had Shahid, on 12, caught by keeper Arshad. The wicket falling with only 37 runs on the board. Hanees Babu joined Ghayoor and together they laboriously started building up the Indian total. They started to collect runs more freely only after Yaseen and Qayyum came in to bowl, although both maintained a good line and length. India's 50 came in the 16th over. Both batsmen started playing solidly and registered the 100 runs partnership in the 33rd over.

The same over saw the departure of Hanees Babu when he was brilliantly caught by Qayyum off the bowling of Javed. Hanees made a well deserved 53 studded with 8 boundaries. Ghayoor, solid as a rock at the other end was joined by his vice–captain Mohammed Ali. Ali immediately started compiling runs like a machine converting the ones into twos and pushing Ghayoor for the extra run on every opportunity. They took only 7 overs to reach their 50 run partnership but soon after Ali was bowled off Khalid in the 41st over for a quick 31 which included a pull over the mid-wicket fence for a huge six and one four.

Dinesh joined Ghayoor with India on 204. With 9 overs remaining and plenty of wickets in hand both started to put the Pakistan attack to the sword. Ghayoor who was doing a fabulous job in holding the Indian innings together was coasting towards a deserving century with 10 boundaries when on 96 he was adjudged LBW off the bowling of Khaled, the 4th wicket falling at 211 in the 43rd over.

Dinesh then let his arms loose and played some classic pulls and drives, hitting the ball all over the field. By the time he got out in the penultimate over caught by Liaqat off Yaseen for a quick fire 45 with 5 boundaries and a magnificent six, India had scored a comfortable total of 274 for the loss of 7 wickets.

The magnitude of Ghayoor's captain's knock and stay at the crease like a pillar was the high point of the Indian XI batting. For the Pakistan XI Khaled bowled superbly collecting the prized wickets of both the India XI captain & vice-captains' in his spell of 10 overs which included 3 maidens and conceding only 36 runs. Azmat took 3 wickets in his 8 overs giving away 37 runs. Nadeem bowled well without luck conceding 32 runs in his 8 overs.

Pakistan XI started their run chase with openers Nawaz and Khalid Butt while Mohd. Ali and Saleem Qazi opened the bowling attack for India XI. Ali struck twice in successive overs removing both the openers. Khalid was first to go on 13 when in the 5th over he was caught brilliantly by Asif, a fantastic catch, undoubtedly the best of the match. Pakistan had only 26 runs on the board and then with only one more run added to the score, Nawaz was caught by keeper Sri Kumar on 13 in the 7th over of the innings.

Wicket-keeper Arshad joined Nadeem and together, they stabilized the batting. They registered the 50 run partnership in 7 overs and when both batsmen looked well set to take on the Indian bowling attack to pieces, Nadeem was unfortunately run-out on 24 as a result of some excellent fielding by the Indians. Liaqat came in next and went back soon, adjudged LBW off Khalid Jamal after scoring only one. Pakistan were 4 down for 114 in the 14th over.

A fruitful 77 run partnership ensued between Arshad and Yasin in the course of which Arshad reached his well deserved century. Pakistan seemed to be cruising safely towards the victory target when in the 34th over Arshad was given LBW to the bowling of Khalid Jamal. Pakistan were 5 down for 191 but still had plenty of overs remaining and wickets at hand. Arshad's impressive knock of 111 studded with 13 fours and two majestic sixes would have ensured that Pakistan receive the Cup for the 4th year in succession.

This seesaw battle of nerves had still a lot to offer. Yasin departed on 22 in the 35th over with Pakistan on 204, Khalid again striking for India with Ali taking the catch. Captain Haji Javed and Azmat then put on a 51 run stand. But in the 45th over when Pakistan XI again seemingly coasting to victory with only 20 runs remaining, lost their Captain who offered a poor shot to Ayub Shaikh's bowling and was caught by Ali at mid-on for 31 runs.

Although the victory was still very much in sight, the Pakistani batsmen lost their nerves and two crucial run-outs ensued. Azmat was backing up for a second run but when Waheed refused, he took far too long to return to the crease and was brilliantly run-out. The Indians were quick in putting on maximum pressure and when Sarfraz tried for a single which was never there, he found his bails removed by the keeper with him way out of his crease, after being rightly sent back by Waheed. Much was expected of him but he was gone for a duck.

Pakistan now had only one wicket remaining to score the required 17 runs off 4 odd overs. Not much of an ask there, but apparently the effect of the two run outs was telling on Waheed. With the crowds screaming their lungs out and the Indian supporters cheering their side to gun for victory, Waheed simply lost his concentration and was clean bowled by a superb fast delivery by pace man Saleem Kazi.

It was all over with Pakistan all out for 263 in the 48th over. It was a remarkable sight of the crowd invading the field to celebrate the 11 run Indian victory and to congratulate the players for their spirited effort in defending the score.All in all, a memorable and exciting game of cricket that kept all on their toes till the last.

The General Secretary of the KOC CC Mr. Iqbal Vanoo conducted the presentation ceremony, felicitating the Pakistan Ambassador, H.E. Shafqat Saeed and Indian Embassy official, Mr. Vijay Kumar, Faisal Marzooq, vice president KCA Mr. Shahid Mirza, KCA council chairman, Jeff Delange, VC KCA, Mr. Faleh Al-Ajmi, Chairman of KOC CC in his address thanked Mr. Shahid Mirza, the sponsor, KOC management for the excellent facilities and commended the efforts of the KOC CC members for putting up a grand event.

Mr. Mirza praised the spirit in which the game was played by the two sides and hoped for more entertaining and friendly encounters in the future. The Pakistan ambassador also echoed similar sentiments lauding the efforts of the cricketing fraternity in Kuwait and applauded the two sides for their sportsmanship. The two Sri Lankan Umpires, Perusinghe and Halaluddin received high praises for their smooth supervision of the match. Mr. Riaz Chodhary was the match referee and M/s. Sami and Murali provided running commentaries in Urdu and English respectively, throughout the match. KTV 2 covered excerpts of the event. Ghayoor was adjudged man of the match. There were many special prizes for families and children and a raffle draw for a 20" color Television. Afternoon lunch and heavy refreshments at the end were also served. All in all, it was a lovely day of cricket marked with great fanfare, excitement and joy for the cricket loving community of Kuwait.

© ICC 2002