Punjab won the A.S.Ali-OGDCL Blind Cricket Super League in a tight finish

Final:

KPK won the toss and decided to bowl first. Punjab who had defeated KPK twice in the double round-robin matches while chasing the target was asked to bat first.

Punjab made 204 runs on the board for the loss of 4 wickets in allotted 20 overs. Muhammad Akram played a superb innings of 135 runs off 78 balls and Muhammad Arsalan made 33 runs off 24 balls. Haroon Khan and Anees Javed shared a wicket a piece by giving away for 27 and 35 runs respectively.

KPK in reply started cautiously and lost two early wickets. Sana Ullah Khan and Haroon Khan both in-form batsmen got out cheaply. Thereafter, Captain Anees Javed and Riasat Khan build innings with calculated risks and took KPK score to 111 runs in 11 overs for the loss of 2 wickets. Riasat Khan’s run out gave chance to Punjab to tighten grip on the match, their fielders responded to clinical bowling and gave just 45 runs in next 6 overs.

Requiring 49 runs in the last 3 overs, Anees Javed hammered 17 runs in 18th over and gave a ray of hope to KPK as 32 runs were needed in the last 12 balls. But Punjab bowled well and clinched the title by 17 runs. KPK made 187 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. Anees Javed made 70 runs off 44 balls and Haroon Khan made 33 off 25 balls. Muhammad Akram claimed 1 wicket for 28 runs in his 4 overs spell whereas Matiullah took 1 wicket for 29 runs.

Man of the Tournament:

Amir Ishfaq in B1 Category, Matiullah in B2 Category, Muhammad Akram in B3 Category and Nisar Ali was adjudged Best Wicket Keeper of the tournament.

Ms Rahila Hameed Khan Durrani, (Acting Governor Balochistan & Speaker Provincial Assembly Balochistan), Ikram Ullah Kafi Regional Coordinator OGDCL Balochistan, Azeem Akhtar CSR Officer OGDCL Islamabad, Brig Shahid Malik, Lt Col Tanveer, Major Yaseen (Representative of Southern Military Commands Quetta) and Syed Sultan Shah Chairman PBCC were the Chief Guests of the occasion.

In her address Ms Rahila Hameed Khan Durrani appreciated the efforts of PBCC for hosting a National event in Quetta and assured the support of Government of Balochistan for the promotion of Cricket for the Blind in the province.

Syed Sultan Shah in his address said that “Young players have played quality cricket in the tournament while few senior players didn’t perform up to their potential, so they need to work hard to keep their places in Pakistan Team”.

Ikram Ullah Kafi Regional Coordinator OGDCL (OGDCL is the sponsor of the event) applauded the achievements of Pakistan Blind Cricket Team and much-admired PBCC administration on hosting the event magnificently. He assured the continued support of OGDCL for this great cause of Cricket for visually impaired.

Later, the Honorable guests distributed prizes amongst the players.