Pakistan lead semis line-up in Global Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan, West Indies, Australia and United States of America (USA) stormed into the semifinals of the inaugural MCW Over 40 Cricket Global Cup 2023 whose league matches concluded here on Thursday.

In the seventh and final round of league matches, Pakistan hammered United Arab Emirates (UAE) by eight wickets at National Bank Stadium, West Indies edged out Hong Kong by five wickets at Karachi while USA whipped Canada by eight wickets at NBP Sports Complex.

Pakistan, by winning all seven matches, topped the table with 14 points while USA and West Indies finished second and third with 11 and 10 points respectively.

The home side dominated the proceedings against UAE from the outset. After just a few overs of pace bowling, the spinners were pressed into service and they did a fantastic job. The trio of Abdul Qadir (4-24), Kashif Siddique (2-16) and Haris Ayaz (2-24) bamboozled the UAE batsmen.

UAE, batting first after winning the toss, struggled to come to terms with the home spinners although the pitch looked good for scoring freely. Failing to build any partnership of note, they succumbed to 80 all out in 29.1 overs with Vijay Mehra (15 off 38 balls) being their top scorer.

As expected, the target of 81 in 45 overs proved a modest one for Pakistan who got off to a flying start through the opening pair of Junaid Khalil Nainitalwala and Abdul Razzaq. They raised 50 of the innings in only the fifth over. Skipper Razzaq was dismissed after making 21 off 15 balls but Junaid returned unbeaten on 36 off 34 as the winning boundary came in the 11th over. Off-spinner Narayan Krishnan claimed both the wickets to fall in Pakistan’s innings. West Indies came up with another powerful display to tame Hong Kong after a hard-fought battle.