Report: P A Hameed Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network - Riyadh

Riyadh, Jan 11: Novotel Riyadh came up triumphs in all the cricket playoffs and was the topper amongst the teams that played in the 10th Inter-Hotel cricket tournament recently.

The tourney was organized by Riyadh Sheraton Hotel in Riyadh. The leading international hotel teams like Sheraton Hotel, Novotel Al-Anoud Hotel, Marriot Hotel, Four Seasons and Riyadh Conference Palace took part in the tournament. All the teams had to play each other in the first round to qualify for the semi-final match.

Riyadh Conference was out of the pitch in the first round itself though it won one match against Sheraton Hotel, which was one of most the interesting playoffs of the tournament.

The first semi-final was played between Novotel and Marriot. Marriot chose to bat first after winning the flip. In an exciting match, they scored 115 runs in allotted 16 overs; however, Novotel showed its amazing performance in the pitch to chase the target and ultimately trampled Marriot in 11 overs that enabled Novotel to qualify for the final.

In the 2nd semi final, Sheraton Hotel qualified for the final after winning against Four Seasons.

The final play-off was played between Novotel and Sheraton Hotel at Sheraton Hotel’s ground. Novotel Al-Anoud opted to bat first after winning the toss. Mangalorean Abid Hussain Padubidri, captain of Novotel team and promising cricketer Ajmer took the pitch as openers. They gave a stimulating start scoring 29 runs in just 3 overs.

After the fall of Ajmer’s wicket, Usman, the master blaster of Novotel, joined the captain, but unluckily he was back to the pavilion before finishing one over. Though the loss of two promising cricketers was initially thought to be a big blow to Novotel, it was, however, falsified soon by Saleemur Rahman, one of the consistent players of Novotel, with his superb batting performance that gave a good partnership to Abid.

The luminescent partnership effort of Abid and Saleem helped the team to touch down at a safe position as they started scoring a lot and budged the score sheet to 126 runs. Both the batsmen gained their fifties in quick succession till Abid was out of the arena after hitting two consecutive sixes off Furqan.

Abid scored 88 runs in just 42 balls with 10 sixes and 2 fours and Saleem made 57 in 26 balls with 4 sixes and 2 fours. In the end, Novotel was able to score 180 for the loss of 4 wickets in the allotted 16 overs.

In return, Sheraton played fantastically with its spectacular batting. It took off so well that it gave a winning signal to Sheraton team. Initially, Fouzer and Furqan of Sheraton seemed to have taken control of the pitch with their vibrant batting to chase the target. Basheer of Sheraton was also not behind in the batting race as he demonstrated an excellent striking with his score of 50 in just 20 balls including 7 sixes.

Naveen, captain of Sheraton, Ashfaq, Taha, Ribki, Naveed and Shiva of Sheraton were the batsmen who played very well in the match. With 16 runs required in the last 2 overs with only 1 wicket remaining, it was described the most exciting match in the inter-hotel cricket tournament.

However, Sheraton found itself difficult in the end to score runs against the fine bowling and fielding performance from Novotel and as a result, Sheraton was defeated in the tournament placing Novotel in the first position.
 
Novotel Riyadh won all the matches and was the topper in the tournament because of the team members’ hard effort including its captain Abid Hussain’s brilliant and all round performance. Sheraton, Marriot Hotel and Four Seasons bagged the 2nd, 3rd and the 4th spots in the tournament respectively.
 

Best Batsman of the Tournament : Abid Hussain (278 Runs) of Novotel

Best Bowler of the Tournament : Manik (14 Wickets) of Novotel

Highest number of sixes : Abid Hussain of Novotel

Highest number of fours : Fouzer of Sheraton

Highest number of catches : Taha of Sheraton

Man of the Match : Abid Hussain (for his brilliant 88 runs and 4 wickets) of Novotel.

Man of the Series : Abid Hussain (for his brilliant 278 runs and 12 wickets in the tournament) Novotel.
 
Sheraton Hotel and Carlos of Sheraton were given special thanks on the occasion for organizing such a wonderful tournament. Novotel Hotel Management was also given a special thanks for its support and encouragement for its team. Irfan and Ajmal, Basha Sayed and others were aptly recognized for molding and guiding the team in a right way.