BEHBEHANI Brothers have retained their position at the top of the Bahrain Cricket League (BCL) Audi Premier League with a comfortable 105-run victory over Ambassador CC.

A superb 95 from Jameel Ahmed and a telling 53 from Zaman Abbas proved all the difference for the table toppers as they romped to an impressive total of 229 for five in their 25 overs.

Jameel (four wickets) and his fellow bowlers then took control as they sent Ambassador packing for 124, with Bilal Alvi providing the only sort of resistance with 61.

Opening batsman Mohamed Jan was the star of the show as he scored an unbeaten 108 to help Alpha Fire UK register their first victory of the campaign against Awali CC.

Jan's century went a long way to securing a fine total of 213 for the Alphas and, although Awali started well in response through Sanjay Rathod (68) and Vishal (38), there was little to come thereafter and they fell short on 197 in their 25 overs.

It was a disappointing week all round for Awali sides, as the Gents also fell to a close-fought defeat to the Indian Royals.

Electing to bat, the Gents saw opener Munish Rao rack up 53, wicket keeper/batsman Shahnawaz Dhanse score 59 and all-rounder Saurab Pande contribute 44 in a decent total of 196 against some tight bowling from the Royals, for whom Nishad took four wickets. Ponde showed his all-round abilities as he led the attack on the Royals's response, taking five wickets in the process, but he had little help from elsewhere and with Shiva Prasad smashing 77, the Indian side romped to 197 for seven inside the 24th over.

In the Alpha Fire derby match, Alpha Fire Qatar (179/8) scored a huge 125-run win over their rivals of Alpha Fire Sri Lanka (54), thanks to a fine bowling display from Ajmal, who bagged five wickets for just 12 runs in his five-over spell.

Elsewhere, Saad (57) helped Pak Lions chase down a modest target of 147, set to them by the Indian School Bahrain with three wickets to spare and in a shock result, Strikers (160) beat Global Metals by 40 runs, thanks to a fine 54 from Shyju Nair and four wickets each from Milan and Abu.

SCORES IN BRIEF

Behbehani Brothers: 229/5 (Jameel 95, Abbas 53) beat Ambassador: 124 (Bilal Alvi 65; Jameel 4/31, Asif 3/15), by 105 runs

Alpha Fire UK: 213/9 (Jan 108, Waqas 32; Rathod 4/42) beat Awali CC: 197/5 (Rathod 68, Vishal 38), by 16 runs

Indian Royals: 197/7 in 23.3 overs (Shiva Prasad 77; Pande 5/37) beat Awali Gents: 196 (Shahnawaz Dhanse 59, Munish Rao 53, Saurav Pande 44; Nishad 4/42, Abdul Rashid 3/28), by three wickets

Pak Lions: 150/7 in 24.3 overs (Saad 57, Ateeq 30; Biju 3/21) beat Indian School Bahrain: 147/9 (Zia 3/11) by three wickets

Alpha Fire Qatar: 179/8 (Liaqat 29; Ashiq 4/22) beat Alpha Fire Sri Lanka: 54 (Ajmal 5/12), by 125 runs

Strikers: 160 (Nair 54, Satish 29; Safran 3/12) beat Global Metals: 120 (Milan 4/14, Abu 4/22), by 40 runs