Heroes CC to face Quetta Gladiators Academy in final

KARACHI: Opener Sami-ur-Rahman’s scintillating unbeaten century powered Heroes Cricket Club Quetta into the final of Karachi Gymkhana-Omar Associates Ramazan Festival Tournament as they outgunned defending champions Omar Cricket Club by a resounding margin of eight wickets in their semi-final match here at the KG Cricket Ground on Sunday.

With Quetta Gladiators Academy having booked their spot in the final, this will be the first-ever all-Quetta final in the 34 years of this tournament. The final is to be contested on Monday (today).

Unlike the low-scoring semi-final between Quetta Gladiators Academy and Eaton Cricket Club, the fixture between Heroes CC and Omar CC was a high-scoring one. Batting first after winning the toss, Omar CC posted a fighting total of 153 for seven in the allotted 20 overs but Heroes CC needed only 15.1 overs to reach the target with Sami, later declared Man of the Match, playing a superb innings.

Omar CC’s plan of installing a formidable total was severely dented with their premier opener Umar Akmal departing after scoring only 16 off 13 balls. His opening partner Muhammad Waqas (21 off 16 balls) didn’t last longer. Ramiz Raja stole the limelight with a breezy 43 off 26 balls.

Omar CC lost their way in the middle overs as Heroes CC’s spin trio of Sohrab Baloch, Wasim Qureshi and Khushdil Shah applied brakes by taking wickets. It was Danish Aziz’s unbeaten 27 off 23 balls which raised the total past 150.

There was anticipation of a close match at the halfway stage, but Sami had his own ideas. He finished with an unbeaten 109 off 57 balls, hitting six sixes and 10 fours.