KARACHI, Dec 9: Malir Gymkhana booked a berth in the semifinal of the Paragon Cup 2001 cricket tournament, after they mauled the fancied KESC by six wickets at the UBL Sports Complex on Sunday.

Put into bat after losing the toss, the star studded KESC team began their innings on a sour note, losing their first four wickets with only 52 runs on the board. With Arif Mehmood and Jaffer Qureshi offering token resistance with 27 runs apiece and Tariq Haroon hitting up 21 runs, inched their way to 105 for four, before their last six wickets crashed like nine pins for only 29 runs.

Left-arm leg-spinner Maqsood Ahmed three for eight runs and right arm medium fast Mohammad Hasnain three for 33, were responsible for the batting landslide.

Set to score 135 runs to book their place in the semi-finals, Malir Gymkhana were given a comfortable start by openers Sajid Hanif (33) and Zeeshan Pervez (28), who put on 33 runs before Zeeshan parted company, slamming four boundaries in his innings which last only 15 deliveries.

Alay Haider (28) and Aamir Hanif (20 n.o.) instrumental in lending a helping hand, Malir Gymkhana reached the winning target of 135 runs after 23 overs, losing four wickets in the process.

Mohammad Hasnain of Malir Gymkhana was declared the Man of the Match.

Javed, Babar shine

Fine batting by Babar Qureshi and Javaid Mansoor enabled Aga Khan Gymkhana register a thumping seven-wicket victory over Tapal CC in the Aga Khan Gymkhana Ramazan cricket tournament at the Aga Khan Gymkhana Sunday.

Summarized scores:

Tapal CC 213 for five in 25 overs (Mubashir Ahmed 50, Tariq Hussain 36, Akif Alvi 43, Naumanullah 42, Jaffar Qureshi 4-28)

AGA KHAN GYMKHANA 214 for seven in 22.1 overs (Jaffer Qureshi 24, Baber Qureshi 77).

Both teams qualified for the semifinals. The two will play again in the first semifinal scheduled for Monday. In the second semifinal on Tuesday Hamdam CC meet Landhi Friends.

SSGC, Aftab Memorial triumph

Sui Southern Gas Company and Aftab Memorial CC registered victories in the 16th Karachi Gymkhana cricket tournament played on Sunday at the Karachi Gymkhana ground.

In the first match played in the morning session, SSGC beat Professional Gymkhana by a healthy margin of 84 runs.

In the next match played in the afternoon session, Aftab Memorial CC registered their first triumph in this tournament, after shocking Landhi Friends by 11 runs in a low scoring match.

Summarized scores:

SSGC 192-7 in 25 overs (M. Zafar 55, Afsar Nawaz 49, Irfanullah 28, Ather Hussain 3-27)

Professional Gymkhana 108 in 20 overs (M. Waheed 21, Nadeem Ahmed 20, Tahir Rashid 20, Irfanullah 2-23, Adnan Malik 2-26)

Aftab Memorial 113 in 24.5 overs (Asim Rizvi 40, Iqbal Sheikh 22, Habibur Rahman 5-11, Asif Ali, 3-20).

Landhi Friends 102-8 in 25 overs (Wajid Ali 27, Habibur rahman 24, Azam Khan 3-19, Asif Mughal 2-16, Iqbal Sheikh 2-22).

Monday’s fixture: Professional Gymkhana vs Airport Gymkhana.

MCC advance

Megacom Cricket Club (MCC) advanced to the quarterfinals of the A.O. Floodlight cricket tournament at Asghar Ali Stadium Saturday evening with a 17-run win against Mids CC, thanks to a fine display by all-rounder Faisal Salim.

Summarized scores:

MCC: 139-6 in 20 overs (Faisal Salim 24, M.Asif 20, Muhammad Danish 2-30)