Heroes CC Quetta win KG Ramazan Tournament

KARACHI: Heroes Cricket Club Quetta won Karachi Gymkhana-Omar Associates Ramazan Festival Cricket Tournament 2019 by edging out Quetta Gladiators Academy by five wickets in a thrilling final here at the KG Cricket Ground on Monday.

Heroes CC survived some nervy moments before closing the deal on the last ball of the penultimate over with five wickets in hand. With both teams displaying great energy in the field and cutting off a number of boundaries with acrobatic saves, it turned out to be a low-scoring contest whose fate remained hanging in the balance until the winning runs were scored by the Heroes CC pair of Usman Maya and Wasim Qureshi.

Batting first after winning the toss, Quetta Gladiators Academy scored 146 for eight. Opener Zubair Mengal made a solid 39 off 33 balls, while Ghulam Haider held the latter part of the innings together with an unbeaten 37 off as many balls, allowing Shabbir Ahmed to play his cameo of 16-ball 35, striking three sixes and two fours.

The Heroes CC spin duo of Aamir Sohail and Fawad Khan had the identical figures of two for 22 to limit their fancied opponents to a total below 150. Heroes CC were made to fight for every run in their pursuit. Quetta Gladiators Academy bowled and fielded brilliantly to keep the contest alive much to the delight of the spectators.

It was still anybody’s game when the last five overs started. Heroes CC still needed 38 for victory when their fifth wicket fell but the unbroken sixth-wicket stand between Usman (35 off 36 balls) and Wasim (18 off 17 balls) settled the issue with sensible batting.

A record prize money of more than Rs1.5 million was disbursed among the outstanding performers. Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) president Nadeem Omar praised both finalists and described it as a red-letter day in the history of Quetta cricket.

He presented a cheque of Rs800,000 to the Heroes CC captain Fawad with the winners’ trophy. Salahuddin, the Quetta Gladiators Academy captain, received Rs400,000. Fawad was also declared the Man of the Final, which fetched him a purse of Rs20,000. Fawad Saleem Malik, Karachi Gymkhana president, presented the other individual awards. Abdul Nasir of Quetta Gladiators Academy was adjudged the Man of the Tournament.