Umar , Asghar guides Omar Associates in Naya Nazimabad Ramadan Cup semifinals

KARACHI, June 01 :   Pakistan discard Umar Akmal and Muhammad Asghar excelled with the bat and ball to guide Omar Associates in the last four stage of  5th Naya Nazimabad Ramadan Cup T20 Cricket Tournament when they whipped Sindh Police by 80 runs  Thursday night.

        Umar blasted 78 off 46 balls with eight well-timed boundaries and four towering sixes and Khushdil Shah slammed a rapid fire unbeateen 41 off 18 deliveries with four boundaries and two sixes as batting first, Omar Associates raced to 195 for the loss of five wickets in their 20 overs.

       Dropped thrice, Umar took full advantage and robbed Police bowlers at will and later Khushdil Shah looted them with an entertaining knock to thrill the sizeable crowd at Lawai Cricket Stadium.

          Match saw butter-fingered Sindh Police fielders dropping as many as half dozen catches to compound their problems.  Leg-break bowler Raza-ul-Hasan and left arm spinner Muhammad Asghar captured two wickets apiece for 35 and 36 runs respectively under difficult circumstances.

Facing a daunting task of scoring 196 for victory, Sindh Police batting crashed to 115 all out in 18 overs.

           They suffered a blow in the start when their talented opener Fazal Subhan fractured his right elbow after was hit by lanky Pakistan pacer Muhammad Irfan and retired when on nine with two boundaries.

Police top order batting flopped and Zeeshan Jamil showed some resistance with a  fighting 35 in 27 balls laced with five boundaries and one sixer. Sheharyar Ghani hit four boundaries in his 22 off 16 balls.

        Slow left arm spinner  Muhammad Asghar emerged as the destroyer inchief with four wickets for 12 runs in his four overs. Fellow left arm spinner Muhammad Asghar claimed three wickets for 24 runs in four overs.

         Haji Osman Ghani, Chairman Al Abbas Group, who was chief guest presented Rs.10,000 man of the match award to Umar Akmal. President KCCA and Owner Quetta Gladiators, Nadeem Omar and other officials were also present on the occasion.

Summarized scores:

Omar Associates 195-7 in 20 overs (Umar Akmal 78, Khushdil Shah 41 not out, Anwar Ali 19, Usman Khan 16, Danish Aziz 13, Saad Nasim 11, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-35, Ibtisam Sheikh 1-43) Sindh Police  115 all out in 18 overs (Zeeshan Jamil 36,  Sheharyar Ghani 22, Muhammad Asghar 4-12, Muhammad Nawaqz 3-24, Saad Nasim 1-16, Asif Ali 1-19)