Karachi, Multan secure opening day victories in National PD cricket

KARACHI: Karachi and Multan began their campaigns with impressive wins on the opening day of the National Physical Disability T20 Cricket Championship, organised by the Pakistan Physical Disability Cricket Association (PPDCA) at the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA) Ground in Karachi on Monday.

In the first match, Karachi defeated Lahore by 17 runs in a thrilling contest. Batting first, Karachi posted 148 for 6, with Arfeen Arshad scoring 49, Umar Farooq 28, and captain Waheed Khan 17. For Lahore, Shahid Ali and Mohammad Bilal claimed two wickets each, while Shahid Nazir and Shahid Watoo took one apiece.

In reply, Lahore managed 131 for 8, with Shahid Ali scoring 30, Mohammad Shehbaz 24, and Umar Siddiq 20. Karachi’s Ali Askar starred with the ball, taking four wickets, while Kamran Khan, Anas Altaf, and Haroon Rasheed claimed one wicket each.

National disabled cricket team head coach Sabih Azhar presented Ali Askar the Player of the Match award. In the second match, defending champions Multan cruised past Quetta by 7 wickets. Batting first, Quetta reached 151 for 7, thanks to an aggressive 71-run knock by Juman Shah off 52 balls, featuring seven fours and three sixes, and 26 runs from Junaid Hasan. For Multan, Asif Khicchi bagged three wickets, while Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Tariq, and Mohammad Asif took one apiece. Multan reached the target in 17 overs. Captain Matloob Qureshi scored 54 off 39 balls with six boundaries, Majid Hussain hit 49 with nine fours, and Mohammad Shehzad smashed 39 off 20 balls, including one six and six fours. Matloob Qureshi was declared the player of the match award.