Ram Ravi’s third century takes KGA Club into semis

KARACHI: Ram Ravi’s third century in four outings took KGA Club into the semifinals of the 37th Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival Cricket Tournament 2022 as they edged out Omar Associates by nine runs in a low-scoring Group B encounter which brought the preliminary rounds to an end here at the KG Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

Ravi carried his bat, making an even hundred off only 61 balls as he whacked no less than half a dozen sixes and seven fours in his splendid knock. He dominated the 59-run unbroken ninth-wicket stand with Faraz, who contributed 14 off 15 balls, to lift the total to a competitive 142 off 20 overs from a precarious 83 for eight.

Off-spinner Haris Ayaz’s four-wicket haul had floored KGA Club but Ravi, declared the Man of the Match for the third time, took him on to take his team out of trouble. He scored a magnificent 100 of the 142 made by his side which showed how much his team depended on him.

The target of 143 was not expected to test Omar Associates but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and the contest remained wide open until the end. Azhar Khan (29 off 31 balls), Jaffer Qureshi (26 off 19 balls) and Adnan Kaleem (24 off 18) got starts but were unable to convert them into big scores. Haris Ayaz remained undefeated on 25 off 13 balls but his team was bowled out for 133 in the final over. Faraz (2-11), Imran (2-19) and Victor (2-27) were the pick of the bowlers.

The first semifinal will be contested between Umer Enterprises and Total Energy on Wednesday (today). The other semifinal will take place between IMI Omar and KGA Club on Thursday (tomorrow). The event will conclude with the final on Friday.