Omar Associates lose despite Nadeem Omar heroics

KARACHI: Nadeem Omar, captain of Omar Associates Veterans cricket team and owner of Quetta Gladiators, put up a good all-round performance picking two wickets and scoring 47 but he failed to save his side from a 21-run defeat at the hands of Karachi Gymkhana Veterans in a challenge cricket match played at Karachi Gymkhana.

Karachi Gymkhana Veterans batted first in the match and put on board 201-9 wickets in allotted 22 overs. Azher Khan batted brilliantly and scored 89 runs off only 49 balls. Jam Nafees and Mazhar Hussain scored 25 runs each.

Nadeem Omar took two wickets for 24 runs and one wicket each was shared by Badar Ansari, Ghulam Ali, Iqbal Sheikh and Yousuf Zahoor.

Batting second, Omar Associates made a solid start with an opening partnership of 59 runs between Nadeem Omar and Fawad Ijaz Khan in only seven overs.

Nadeem Omar, who has been suffering from a backache for some time, retired hurt after scoring 47 runs off 45 balls. Fawad Ijaz Khan scored 35 runs off 27 balls. Former Pakistan player Ghulam Ali scored 36 runs off 21 balls and Iqbal Sheikh contributed 32 runs off only 19 balls. Omar Associates accumulated 180 runs for the loss of six wickets in allotted 22 overs.

For Karachi Gymkhana, Uzhair Usman and Akhter Munir took two wickets each for 42 and 51 runs respectively.

At the conclusion of the match, Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association gave the Man of the Match Award to Nadeem Omar and Best Batsman Award to Azhar Khan.