Conquerors beat Strikers to win women’s U19 crown

LAHORE: Komal Khan-led Conquerors romped to an eight-wicket win over Strikers to bag the National Women’s Under-19 title on Sunday here at the LCCA Ground.

Conquerors, who remained unbeaten in the 21-match tournament, chased the 56-run target in 8.4 overs. After being invited to bat first, Strikers found themselves in trouble as they only managed 55-9 in the allotted 20 overs with only skipper Zoofishan Ayyaz (22) and Raahima Syed (12) entering double figures. The duo also stitched a 31-run fourth-wicket partnership after they were reduced to 9-3 but couldn’t arrest the collapse as they went from 41-5 to 55-9. Minahil Javaid took three wickets for 16 runs in her four overs to become the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 15 scalps in nine matches. Player of the match, Laiba Nasir bagged three for seven in her four overs. Quratulain picked up two wickets while Samiya Afsar dismissed one batter.

In turn, skipper Komal Khan struck five fours in her unbeaten 22-ball 33 and shared an unbeaten 25-run third-wicket stand with Areesha Ansari (11 not out), to help her team get over the line with eight wickets in hand.

Komal, who was declared the best wicket-keeper and best batter of the tournament, finished with 236 runs at an average of 29.50 and a strike rate of 128.26.