Peshawar Region become U19 champions

RAWALPINDI: Peshawar beat Karachi Blues by seven wickets in the final to become the Inter-Region Under-19 One-Day Tournament champions at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur (AJK) on Tuesday.

Karachi Blues, who were asked to bat first, failed to post a decent total as most of their batsmen struggled against some steady Peshawar bowling.

They were bundled out for just 127 in the 42nd over. Anus Ilyas was the only batsman who played with some authority. His innings of 46 came off 57 balls and included a six and five fours.

Almost all Peshawar bowlers had a good day with Niaz Khan, Awais Ali Shah, Amir Azmat and Mohammad Aamer taking two wickets each.

Muhammad Mohsin then hit a polished 70 not out as Peshawar reached the victory target in 30.4 overs with seven wickets in hand. Mohsin hit a six and 10 fours in his 93-ball knock. Amir Azmat scored 24 off 23 deliveries with the help of two sixes and as many fours.

For Peshawar, Ali Nasim bagged two wickets for 13 runs. Peshawar were awarded Rs200,000 while Karachi Blues got Rs100,000.

Muhammad Mohsin was adjudged as the man of the match and received Rs25,000.

Other individual prizes of Rs25,000 each went to Saad Khan (Hyderabad, best batsman), Muhammad Jahangir (Multan, best bowler) and Mukhtiar Ahmed (Peshawar, best wicketkeeper).

Scores in brief: At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: Karachi Blues 127 all out in 41.1 overs (Anus Ilyas 46; Niaz Khan 2-15, Awais Ali Shah 2-15, Amir Azmat 2-20, M Aamer 2-24). Peshawar 128-3 in 30.4 overs (Muhammad Mohsin 70 not out, Amir Azmat 24; Ali Nasim 2-13). Result: Peshawar won by 7 wickets.