Media Release

Riyadh, Nov 8: Sooralpadi cricketers (SCFC) beat Mangalore Kings to lift the Karavali – Pizza Inn Trophy in a spectacular final played here. A total of 24 teams from different parts of India participated in the tournament, yet it was all Mangalorean final since two Mangalorean teams emerged at the top to fight it out for this prestigious trophy. 

Winning the toss, SCFC elected to bat and started aggressively with Nazeer and Anees who struck a huge six in the very first over. But in the second over they lost the wicket of Anees and for the score of 18 they lost their second wicket. But Nazeer played superbly mixing aggression with placement and partnering Vijay for the 3rd wicket a quick 49 runs were scored. Nazeer was fierce against all the bowlers. He scored 59 runs of just 19 balls which included 5 sixes. 

Mangalore Kings pulled it back by taking three quick wickets, but Ismail who scored 18 of 6 balls and Akram 26 of 14 balls made SCFC reach defendable target of 149 for 9 of allotted 12 overs.

For Mangalore Kings even though Imran took three wickets he felt the brunt of some big hitting and went for 44 runs in his three overs. Zahid, Yasir and Zulfi claimed two wickets each. 

With their strong batting line up 150 seemed not a big target for Mangalore Kings, which entered the final with consecutive 200 plus scores in their previous two matches. They started with Haris and Imran and Haris showed his intention clear by hitting 11 runs of first 4 balls he faced. He scored quick fire 27 runs of just 14 deliveries. But once Haris got out, some disciplined bowling from SCFC particularly Hussain and Abdul Rehman contained the runs flow from Mangalore Kings. In the last over of the day Mangalore Kings needed 22 runs, but managed to get only five runs of Ismail’s over and ended up with losing for 16 runs. Nazeer of SCFC was declared Man of the Match.

Pizza Inn was the main sponsor for the event. Traditional Karavali breakfast of “Sajjige Bajil” on the banana leaves and bananas were arranged by Prasanna Rao & Rafi Ali. Alfrred of Deema arranged juices and snacks for the crowd. 

The tournament was organized by Karavali Welfare Association on behalf of their annual festival “Karavali Parba” which will be held on November 13 in Riyadh. First time in Saudi Arabia’s entertainment history a Tulu Drama called “Yapa Pira” will be played on the day. All Mangaloreans are requested to participate on the day.