RLCA win National Seniors Cup

KARACHI: Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA) extended their brilliant form in the final to win the 19th National Seniors Cup Cricket Tournament 2017-18, organised by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA).

RLCA came up with their usual clinical brand to demolish Okara by 102 runs in the national final here at the Lawai Naya Nazimabad Stadium on Sunday.Batting first after winning the toss, RLCA posted an impressive total of 249 for eight in the allotted 30 overs.

Okara struggled after losing wickets upfront to be bowled out for 147 in 20.2 overs.Opener Muhammad Rizwan (75 off 55 balls), adjudged Man of the Match, and skipper Asim Jah (57 off 53 balls) added 103 for second wicket in quick time to lay a strong foundation for a big RLCA total.

Cameos in death overs from Qamar Ibrahim (36 off 22 balls) and Asif Siddiqui (34 off 16 balls) boosted their total considerably after a middle-order slump caused by the spin and pace combination of Muhammad Hafeez (3-43) and Khalid Hussain (2-39).

Okara lost three early wickets as the openers were cleaned up by medium-pacer Asif Shaikh. Wickets continued to tumble with the introduction of spinners and the visiting side fell behind the clock.

Irshad Ahmed (60 off 40 balls) and Muhammad Hafeez (30 off 22 balls) briefly revived Okara’s hopes but their dismissals in quick succession allowed RLCA to press home the advantage. Left-arm spinner Nadeem Khan (3-35) and off-spinner Asif Jah (2-28) sent them crashing to 147 all out.

Nadeem Omar, Omar Associates director and owner of Quetta Gladiators, presented a cash prize of Rs150,000 alongwith winners’ trophy to Asim, skipper of RLCA. Muhammad Hafeez, the Okara captain, collected the runners-up trophy and Rs75,000.

Tahir Mughal of Sialkot Giants was declared the player of the tournament and given Rs15,000, while Muhammad Rizwan (RLCA), Abdul Qadir (RLCA) and Muhammad Raees (Multan Whites) were adjudged the best batsman, the best bowler and the best wicketkeeper, respectively, and given Rs10,000 each.The tournament was contested by 103 teams.

This season’s National Seniors Cup witnessed the emergence of some powerful new outfits. Neither RLCA, the southern zone champions, nor Okara, the northern zone champions, had reached the national final of the Seniors Cup in the past. It was for the first in the 19-year old history of the tournament that no team from Lahore made it to the northern region final which was contested between Okara and Wah Power.