Qasmi Gymkhana, Sindh Police register victories

KARACHI: Qasmi Gymkhana and Sindh Police registered victories in the 33rd Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival Twenty20 here at the KG Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Qasmi Gymkhana edged out hosts Karachi Gymkhana by four runs in an exciting Group C fixture. Sindh Police overwhelmed Momin Seed Cricket Club by six wickets in their Group A encounter.

Batting first after winning the toss, Qasmi Gymkhana scored 156 for the loss of four wickets. Opener Bilal Ahmed, adjudged Man of the Match, did the bulk of scoring as he finished with an unbeaten 89 off 60 balls, hitting four sixes and eight fours.

Left-arm spinner Rafay Safdar (2-20) and off-spinner Habib-ur-Rahman (2-32) prevented Qasmi Gymkhana from scoring a bigger total which seemed possible at one stage. Karachi Gymkhana ran into trouble while chasing the target and all seemed lost for them when their seventh wicket went down at 96. But a fierce counter-attack from Furqan Khalil, who clobbered three sixes and a four in his breezy unbeaten 39 off 24 balls, revived their hopes.

Farhan Arif chipped in with unbeaten 19 off 13 balls but they narrowly fell short of the target. Leg-spinner Hasan Sardar (3-22) and left-arm spinner Wasim Ali (2-20) were the pick of the bowlers.

Earlier in the day, the Sindh Police spin trio of Ali Asghar (3-21), Farooq Hasan (2-16) and Tariq Khan (2-26) sent Momin Seed CC tumbling to 106 all out in 17.4 overs after their openers Azhar Abbas (29 off 22 balls) and Khan Muhammad (20 off 23 balls) had scored 50 for the first wicket.

Sindh Police reached the target with nearly three overs to spare, losing four wickets in the process. Shiraz Ali was the top-scorer with unbeaten 34 off 41 balls, but the Man of the Match award was clinched by Ali Asghar.