Quetta, Faisalabad triumphant in U-19 Cricket

LAHORE: The ninth round of the Inter Region U-19 One-day Cricket Tournament 2018-19 came to an end with wins for Quetta, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Fata, Multan, Lahore Blues, Karachi Blues and Sialkot on Friday.

In Group A matches played at Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Quetta beat Karachi Whites by 25 runs at the National Cricket Ground. Quetta first caved in at 121 in 45.1 overs but it bowled out Karachi at 96 in 33.2 overs. Wahid Bangulzai with 56 runs was Quetta’s highest scorer. Muhammad Makki with four wickets while Muhammad Taha and Muhammad Waqas with two wickets each played vital role for Karachi.

Karachi Region Whites failed miserably and could score 96 runs. Muhammad Taha 26 was prominent with the bat, their batting was dented by Hussain Ahmed and Muhammad Ibrahim with three wickets each and Muhammad Ajmal and Junaid Khan with two wickets each.

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad defeated Dera Murad Jamali by four wickets. DM Jamali got 133 runs in 37.1 overs. Muhammad with 47 and Ubaid Ullah 25 were the main runs getter. M. Bilal Javed and Saif Ali had three wickets while Suleman Shafqat two to give Faisalabad an upper hand.

Faisalabad in reply achieved 135 for six in 43.5 overs. M. Shoaib Hassan remained not out at 38 along with Ali Mustafa 25 not out. Earlier Awais Zafar made 27. Fahad Hussain was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets.

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad, Rawalpindi thrashed AJK by 10 wickets. The winning team first bowled out AJK at just 37 runs in 15 overs and then achieved 39 without loss. Munir Riaz of Rawalpindi ripped AJK batting with six wickets and was supported by Sheraz Khan who had three. Haider Ali who remained not out made 28in Rawalpindi’s win.

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad, Fata defeated Lahore Whites by 82 runs. Fata reached 276 for all in 49.3 overs. Muhammad Aftab Alam scored 74 valuable runs with Muhammad Abbas Afridi getting 55, Muhammad Ajmal 33 and Salman Khan 27. Danish Butt, Adil Sarwar and Syed Faridoun shared four, three and two wickets from Lahore’s bowling.

In reply, Lahore Whites crumbled at 194 in 46.5 overs. Hasan Dar with 60 and Hamza Sani with 47 were their main scorers. Abdul Raheem had four wickets and Muhammad Wasim three in Fata’s win.

In group B matches played at Karachi, Multan beat Larkana by two wickets at the National Stadium. Larkana that scored 239 for 8 in 50 overs failed to defend its target developed by Ishfaque Ahmed 53, Javed Ali Khoso 49, Amir Ali 35 and Sharaf Din 25. Muhammad Jahangir with three wickets and Muhammad Asif with two halted their progress.

Multan, however, achieved winning 241 for eight in 49.4 overs. Muhammad Basit 93 though failed to get his century but made the win easy for Multan. He was supported by Saim Ayaz 46 and Ali Husnain 37. Javed Ali Khoso got two wickets from the losing side.

At UBL Sports Complex, Lahore Blues crushed Abbottabad by 10 wickets. Lahore first contained Abbottabad at 133 in 37.4 and then reached the target without loss. Apart from Shahbaz Khan’s 35 and Sanaullah 24 not out none of Abbottabad batsmen could score runs. They failed to understand the bowling of Muhammad Bilal Khan who had three wickets, while Nasim Shah and Shahroze Afzal shared two each. Lahore got 134 in 34.1 with its openers Syed Taqi Bilgrami getting 67 and Ibtisam-ul-Haq 55.

At NBP Stadium, Karachi Blues beat Peshawar by three wickets. Karachi bowled out Peshawar at 117 in 41.4 overs. Muhammad Mohsin was their highest scorer with 56 runs Awais Ali Shah with 25 was another prominent batsman. They were given a tough time by Tariq Khan who had six wickets while Khadif-un-Nabi had two.

Karachi then achieved 119 for seven in 32.2 overs. Ubaid Ullah Khan 30 not out and Ahsan Ullah 25 made win easy which looked difficult at one stage all due to good bowling from Ejaz-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Imran and Izhar Ahmed who had two wickets each.

At TMC Cricket Ground, Sialkot beat Hyderabad by seven wickets. Hyderabad made 141 for all in 50 overs. Muhammad Faisal was prominent with 49. Ghulam Mohiuddin and Farrukh Waqas had three wickets for the winning team each with Haroon Ahmed having two.

Sialkot later scored 141 for three in 17.1 overs. Ashir Bhatti 59 not out and Mohsin Riaz 50 not out were the main batsmen who brought win for their team. Saad Khan had two wickets.