20th National Seniors Cup Cricket Tournament continue in full swing
Quetta demolished AA Pakwan by nine wickets but lost to Friends XI by three wickets in the two matches played into Southern Zone of 20th National Seniors Cup Cricket Tournament 2018/19 which is being held in different parts of the country.
Quetta demolished AA Pakwan by nine wickets at the Naya Nazimabad Stadium but lost to Friends XI by three wickets at Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA) before succumbing to Fact Date Engineering by 68 runs at the same venue.
Quetta’s move of putting AA Pakwan into bat, after winning the toss, paid rich dividends as they bowled their opponents out for 179 in 23.5 overs despite opener Athar Laeeq’s 70 off 58 balls containing three sixes and seven fours. The spin trio of Muhammad Maqbool (3-15), Dawood Khan (3-28) and Arbab Shakir (2-25) shared the bowling honors for the visiting side. The 123-run unbroken second wicket stand between opener Alam Badri (81 off 62 balls) and Aurangzeb (60 off 51 balls) saw Quetta home with 2.1 overs to spare.
In their next outing, Quetta opted to bat first and posted a total of 224 for three in the allotted 25 overs against Friends XI with Shah Jahan scoring an unbeaten 100 off 67 balls with the help of four sixes and eight fours.
Friends XI chased down the stiff target of 225 in the final over with three wickets in hand. Opener Muhammad Khalid blasted three sixes and five fours in his 54 off 29 balls, while Faraz Qazi smashed three sixes and one four in his 40 off 24 balls. Leg-spinner Dawood Khan (3-28) and left-arm spinner Raja Gulfam (2-48) were the successful bowlers for Quetta.
Fact Date Engineering, inserted into bat after losing the toss, amassed a mammoth total of 314 for five in the stipulated 25 overs against Quetta with opener Gohar Ali leading the charge with a whirlwind 114 off 46 balls punctuated with 11 sixes and nine fours. Ghazanfar Khan (75 off 33 balls) and Rizwan Qureshi (50 off 31 balls) also flayed the bowling. Quetta, in reply, could make 249 for nine in 25 overs with opener Ali Ahmed (78 off 41 balls) and Arbab Shakir (58 off 31 balls) batting brilliantly. They were undone by left-arm spinner Gul Zaman Chaudhry who grabbed four wickets for 24 runs off five overs in the high-scoring match.
A total of about 107 teams from all over the country are competing in the annual tournament this time which has been organized by Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA). This mega cricket event has been held every season since its launch a couple of decades ago. The Southern Zone champions will be taking on the Northern Zone champions in the National Final in Lahore.
The last year's trophy was won by Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA) of Southern Zone.
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