Bismillah shines in Karachi Blues victory

KARACHI: Opener Bismillah Khan’s swashbuckling knock powered Karachi Blues to a comfortable six-wicket victory over N N Strikers in a Group A fixture of the 36th edition of the Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival Cricket Tournament 2023 for the Omar Trophy here at the KG Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Bismillah, declared Man of the Match, smashed three sixes and nine fours in his exhilarating 33-ball 66 which allowed Karachi Gymkhana to reach the target of 142 with nearly five overs to spare. He dominated the 72-run opening stand in just 5.3 overs with Arsalan Malik (20 off 14 balls) before adding another 46 in next six overs for second wicket with Zeeshan Malik.

Batting first, N N Strikers recovered from a disastrous start to post a fighting total of 141 for nine in the allotted 20 overs. The recovery was led by Haider Bangash (42 off 24 balls) and Rizwan (36 off 29 balls) after their side had crashed to 68 for six at the halfway stage of the innings.