Peshawar Blues bag Zalmi schools league

PESHAWAR: Peshawar Blues won the final of Zalmi Inter-Schools T20 Cricket League by beating Malakand Yellows by a margin of 81 runs here at the Hayatabad Sports Complex Tuesday.Batting first, Peshawar Blues set a winning 193-run target in the allotted 20 overs.

Hazrat Ali (64) and Amir (53) played well for Peshawar Blues. In replay, Malakand Yellows were bowled out for 112 runs. Fast medium bowler Jamal Nasir bagged three wickets for Peshawar Blues. He took 15 wickets in the league and was declared emerging player of the tournament.

A total of eight teams from four divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa featured in the league, which was a joint venture of Zalmi Foundation, a welfare body of the champions of the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Elementary and Secondary Education Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The league matches were played in Haripur while the final was played at the Hayatabad Sports Complex.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was the chief guest on the occasion. Legendary batsman Zaheer Abbas, former Test bowler and Director Peshawar Zalmi Muhammad Akram, KPK Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Mehmood Khan, Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Muhammad Atif, KPK Sports Director General Junaid Khan and a large number of spectators were also present.

President Peshawar Zalmi and legendary former right-handed batsman and Test cricketer who also earned the title of Asian Bradman, Zahir Abbas, said the players of KPK were talented. He added that he was impressed by the quality and talent he saw among the students here.

The legendary batsman, who is the first Pakistani batsman to score three consecutive centuries in One-Day Internationals, said holding of such events would give ample opportunities to the youth and students to exhibit their talent and hone their skills.

The chief minister lauded the organisers for successful holding of the league, saying that the event provided a healthy and productive activity to the students and an opportunity to show their talent. He said that such events would help bring new talent forward.Later, Zaheer Abbas along with Muhammad Akram and Muhammad Atif gave away trophies and awards to the winning team and best players of the tournament.