Mixed fortunes for Quetta in Veterans Cricket

KARACHI: Quetta encountered mixed fortunes in the latest round of the Southern Zone matches in the 19th National Veterans Cup Cricket Tournament 2017-18 here at the Naya Nazimabad Ground.

According to the information made available by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) here on Friday, opener Muhammad Alam’s unbeaten 104 powered Quetta to a convincing nine-wicket victory over Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) but they were routed by Omar Associates by seven wickets at the same venue the following day.

Batting first, after winning the toss, CAA scored 204 for eight in the allotted 25 overs with Kamran Tariq smashing four sixes and five fours in his 58 off 37 balls. The innings was contained by the spin quartet of Raju Gulfam (2-21), Ali Ahmed (2-21), Dawood Khan (2-36) and Alam Khan (2-38).

The 104-run opening stand between Ghulam Sarwar, who departed after scoring 58 off 48 balls with the help of one six and five fours, and Man of the Match Muhammad Alam, who remained undefeated on 104 off 65 balls hitting five sixes and six fours, got Quetta off to a rollicking start and the target was reached in 22.1 overs. Shahjahan Khan was the other not out batsman with stroke-filled 39 off 21 balls containing two sixes and three fours.

Quetta carried forward their good batting form the following day as they scored 192 for three off 25 overs against Omar Associates with Shahjahan Khan topscoring with an unbeaten 70 off 45 balls studded with three sixes and five fours. Opener Ghulam Sarwar was among the runs again, making 64 off 58 balls with seven boundaries.

The Omar Associates batsmen, however, trumped their opponents with skipper Jaffer Qureshi, coming in as an opener, setting the tone with 68 off 42 balls, hitting three sixes and nine fours. Then number three Imran Javed, adjudged Man of the Match, sustained the momentum with an unbeaten 75 off 45 balls with three sixes and nine fours to enable his team romp home with nearly three overs to spare.

A total of 103 outfits from 50 cities, having been divided in 31 groups, are participating in the tournament being sponsored by Omar Associates (Pvt) Ltd with Naya Nazimabad being the co-sponsors. The National Seniors Cup, contested annually between the selected teams of the various cities, has been organized by the PVCA every season since its launch in 1998.

34 city teams from Punjab, 8 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5 from Sindh, 2 from Islamabad and one from Baluchistan are taking part in the event whose national final will be contested between the champions of Northern and Southern Zones, in Karachi on April 22. The total prize money on offer is Rs 694,000.