Mixed fortunes for Quetta in National Seniors Cup

KARACHI: Quetta encountered mixed fortunes in their Southern Zone matches of the 20th National Seniors Cup Cricket Tournament 2018-19 being held in different parts of the country.

According to the information made available by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) here on Wednesday, Quetta demolished AA Pakwan by nine wickets at the Naya Nazimabad Stadium but lost to Friends XI by three wickets at Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA) before succumbing to Fact Date Engineering by 68 runs at the same venue.

A total of 107 teams from all over the country are contesting in the annual tournament which has been held every season since its launch two decades ago.

Quetta’s move of putting AA Pakwan into bat, after winning the toss, paid rich dividends as they bowled their opponents out for 179 in 23.5 overs despite opener Athar Laeeq’s 70 off 58 balls containing three sixes and seven fours. The spin trio of Muhammad Maqbool (3-15), Dawood Khan (3-28) and Arbab Shakir (2-25) shared the bowling honours for the visiting side.

The 123-run unbroken second wicket stand between opener Alam Badri (81 off 62 balls) and Aurangzeb (60 off 51 balls) saw Quetta home with 2.1 overs to spare.

In their next outing, Quetta opted to bat first and posted a total of 224 for three in the allotted 25 overs against Friends XI with Shah Jahan scoring an unbeaten 100 off 67 balls with the help of four sixes and eight fours.

Friends XI chased down the stiff target of 225 in the final over with three wickets in hand. Opener Muhammad Khalid blasted three sixes and five fours in his 54 off 29 balls, while Faraz Qazi smashed three sixes and one four in his 40 off 24 balls. Leg-spinner Dawood Khan (3-28) and left-arm spinner Raja Gulfam (2-48) were the successful bowlers for Quetta.

Fact Date Engineering, inserted into bat after losing the toss, amassed a mammoth total of 314 for five in the stipulated 25 overs against Quetta with opener Gohar Ali leading the charge with a whirlwind 114 off 46 balls punctuated with 11 sixes and nine fours. Ghazanfar Khan (75 off 33 balls) and Rizwan Qureshi (50 off 31 balls) also flayed the bowling. Quetta, in reply, could make 249 for nine in 25 overs with opener Ali Ahmed (78 off 41 balls) and Arbab Shakir (58 off 31 balls) batting brilliantly. They were undone by left-arm spinner Gul Zaman Chaudhry who grabbed four wickets for 24 runs off five overs in the high-scoring match.