Karachi, Abbottabad qualify for T-20 Trophy final after Nail-biting semis

By Shiraz Asif

Karachi : Karachi and Abbottabad making it to the finals after close encounters in the semifinals of NBP T-20 Blind Cricket Trophy Grade-2 here on Thursday. Karachi took on Multan whereas Abbottabad faced Quetta.
The first semifinal was played between Karachi and Multan at Afza Cricket Ground. Multan won the toss and elected to field first. Wali Ullah and Shahzad Iqbal made their contribution with the bat and scored 53 & 45 runs. Karachi summed up a total of 242 for the loss of 6 in 20 overs. Their partnership proved to be crucial in the last over where they scored 20 runs. Muhammad Shahbaz and Muhammad Safdar grabbed wicket a piece. Multan’s openers Ghulam Akbar and Muhammad Safdar started their inning smashing Karachi bowlers all over the ground scoring 14 runs per over in the first 10 overs. But then Karachi made a comeback when they got the wicket of Muhammad Safdar stumped by Shahzad Iqbal on 78. Tahir Ali took a sharp catch of Ghulam Akbar and brought Karachi close to the line. In the end, Multan fell 1 run short of the target. Abdul Wahab 2, Tariq Samuel and Muhammad Usman claimed a wicket each. Shahzad Iqbal was named man of the match.

The second nail biter was between Abbottabad vs. Quetta played at Afza Cricket Ground. Quetta put Abbottabad bat first after winning the toss. Abbottabad’s Riasat Khan & Naeem Ullah made 199 runs for the first wicket. Riasat fell short of a hundred and went back to the pavilion scoring 92 off 35 balls. Naeem Ullah stood on unbeaten 131 hitting 15 boundaries and took the score to 276 for the loss of 4.

Quetta in reply only managed to make 269/5 felling 8 runs short. Naseeb-Ullah’s fighting 149 couldn’t take his team over the line. His brilliant innings consisted 24 (4’s). Muhammad Adeel and Riasat Khan took 1 wicket each. Karachi will take on Abbottabad tomorrow in the final at T.M.C Cricket Ground, Gulberg Karachi.