Johar Bears overpower Alamgir Gymkhana in KG Ramazan Cricket

KARACHI: Johar Bears overpowered Alamgir Gymkhana by seven wickets in the high-scoring opening match of Karachi Gymkhana-Omar Associates Ramazan Festival Cricket Tournament, being held with the blessings of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), here at the KG Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

Batting first after winning the toss, Alamgir Gymkhana posted an impressive total of 205 for five in the allotted 20 overs with Fahad Bukhari scoring an unbeaten 60 off 38 balls. He struck two sixes and five fours.

Opener Azmat Khan set the tone with a breezy 48 off 28 balls, smashing three sixes and five fours. Muhammad Hussain sustained the momentum with 40 off 28 balls, hitting six boundaries. Medium-pacer Bilal Shah (3-39) and leg-spinner Shahzeb Ahmed (2-26) were the successful bowlers.

Johar Bears were put on course of victory by Zeeshan Malik (78 off 50 balls) and wicket-keeper Ram Ravi (70 off 38 balls), who added 100 for the second wicket in quick time. Left-arm medium-pacer Ghulam Mudassir claimed back-to-back wickets but he was unable to prevent Johar Bears from reaching the target in the penultimate over. Ram Ravi was adjudged Man of the Match for his sensational knock.

The tournament, being contested by 16 teams, is offering a record prize money of Rs1.5 million. The champions will be claiming a handsome purse of Rs800,000, while the runners-up will be collecting Rs400,000.