Aamir helps Sindh bag U-19 trophy

LAHORE: Left-arm spinner Aamir Ali’s fine bowling (6 for 54) helped Sindh U-19s claim the National U-19 three-Day Cricket Tournament trophy when they beat Northern U-19s by 7 wickets in the final at Rana Naveed Cricket Academy Sheikhupura Ground on Monday. Sindh had recently won the National U-19 One-Day Tournament also. Resuming their second innings on 102 for six, Northern were bundled out for 131 in 49.2 overs. Captain Zaid Khan top-scored with 64. For Sindh, left-arm spinner Aamir Ali took six wickets for 54 runs in 23.2 overs. He ended-up with match figures of 11 for 133. Arish Ali Khan and M Makki grabbed two wickets apiece for 40 and 20 runs, respectively. Chasing 148 to win, Sindh lost two wickets in quick succession with only 22 runs on the board, but a 109-run partnership for the third wicket between M Taha (61 not out) and Saim Ayub 62 guided the team to victory. Aamir for his 11 wickets was named player-of-the-match, while Mehran Mumtaz who has scored 166 runs and took 24 wickets for Northern was named player-of-the-tournament.

Scores in brief: Northern U-19s 220 all out in 77.2 overs (Mehran Mumtaz 43, Abdul Fasih 34; Arish Ali Khan 5-85, Aamir Ali 5-79) and 131 all out in 49.2 overs (Ziad Khan 64; Aamir Ali 6-54, Arish Ali Khan 2-40, M Makki 2-20), Sindh U19 204 all-out, 63.2 overs (Mubashir Nawaz 63, M Usman 56; Mehran Mumtaz 4-47, Shiraz Khan 3-44) and 152-3, 32.3 overs (Saim Ayub 62, M Taha 61*).