KARACHI: Omar Cricket Club cruised into the final after crushing hosts Karachi Gymkhana by 63 runs in the first semi-final of the 33rd Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival Twenty20 here at the KG Cricket Ground on Monday.
Half-centuries from Usman Khan (63 off 25 balls), Ahsan Ali (54 off 31 balls) and Danish Aziz (54 off 30 balls) powered Omar CC to a huge total of 238 for six in the allotted 20 overs.
Karachi Gymkhana, in reply, were restricted to 173 for seven.Omar CC relished the opportunity of batting first after losing the toss. Openers Umar Akmal and Ahsan Ali began the onslaught from the outset, with 64 runs coming in the powerplay.
Umar perished after scoring 20 off 11 balls but Ahsan stayed longer to complete his century studded with two sixes and four fours.Having progressed to 93 for two at the halfway stage, it was in the later half of the innings when Omar CC exploded, collecting as many as 145 runs in the last 10 overs.
Usman Khan, adjudged Man of the Match, virtually took the game away from the hosts by hammering half a dozen sixes and three fours in his whirlwind knock.Left-arm spinner Rafay Safdar (3-58) and off-spinner Farhan Arif (2-32) were the successful bowlers for Karachi Gymkhana but they too could not stem the flow of runs.
Set a daunting target, at a rate of nearly 12 an over, the hosts kept the match alive until the first half of their innings with openers Taimoor Sultan (67 off 44 balls) and Khurram Manzoor (26 off 16 balls) setting up the chase nicely.
The next two batsmen, Ashraf Ali (33 off 22 balls) and Bilal Munir (29 off 23 balls), also kept the scoreboard moving but the four-wicket haul from off-spinner Bilal Asif derailed them and the hosts fell too far behind the target.Qasmi Gymkhana will be up against Agha Steel in the second semi-final on Tuesday (today).
