Omar CC, Qasmi Gymkhana massacre rivals

KARACHI: Quite a few records were broken as Omar Cricket Club and Qasmi Gymkhana massacred their respective rivals in the preliminary round matches of Karachi Gymkhana Ramadan Festival Twenty20 here at the KG Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Omar CC whipped Acme Technologies by 10 wickets in their Group B encounter. Qasmi Gymkhana hammered Mateen Enterprises by 112 runs in their Group C fixture.

Left-arm spinner Faraz Ahmed Khan (4-9), adjudged Man of the match, rattled the top order and leg-spinner Saad Naseem (4-5) and off-spinner Ashiq Ali (2-8) sliced through the lower half to dismiss Acme Technologies for a meagre 52 in 14.3 overs, the lowest total in the event so far.The Omar CC openers Sahibzada Farhan (30 off 12 balls) and Usman Khan (26 off 12 balls) needed just four overs to reach the target. The match was won with 16 overs to spare, a record in the 33-year-old history of the tournament.

In the other match, Qasmi Gymkhana posted 199 for one with opener Akhtar Muhammad, declared Man of the Match, stealing the limelight with a magnificent unbeaten 122 off 64 balls, in which he hit seven sixes and 13 fours.

He dominated the unbroken 196-run second wicket stand with Bilal Irshad, who scored an unbeaten 67 off 54 balls with one six and eight boundaries. Mateen Enterprises lost wickets upfront and failed to recover. They were bowled out for 87 in 17 overs with spinners Hasan Sardar (4-22), Asif Siddiqui (2-1), Muhammad Usman (2-17), Rizwan Khan (1-4) and Abid Qasmi (1-21) bowling well.