KP crowned PCB U13 Catch ‘em Young National champions

KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Southern Punjab by five wickets at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium on Saturday to win the National Under-13 Catch ‘em Young National Championship.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chased down the 157-run target with 13 balls to spare in the 30-overs contest.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa captain and opener Ahmed Hussain led his side from the front with an unbeaten 72 off 78 balls, hitting eight fours.

Zulqarnain was the other notable performer, who batting at number seven scored 41 runs from 40 balls and cracked six fours.

Southern Punjab had scored 156 for nine with wicketkeeper-batsman Fahad Kashif scoring 47-ball 48. The opening batsman struck five fours.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohammad Salman picked three wickets for 20 runs in five overs. Captain Ahmed picked up two wickets for 27 runs in six overs. Ahmed was declared the player of the final. He also got the player of the tournament award for scoring 283 runs and taking 11 wickets in six matches.

The tournament is part of Pakistan Cricket Board’s efforts to identify and develop a pool of cricketers at the junior level to train them to become part of Pakistan teams at under-16 and -19 levels.

The tournament featured six Cricket Association teams, which were finalised by the national junior selection committee. A total of 16 matches, including the final, were played at different venues in Faisalabad.