KARACHI, July 27: Dawn clinched the second NBP inter-media cricket tournament when they defeated Jang by five wickets with one ball to spare after a nail-biting finish at the National Stadium Saturday.

Dawn, chasing a victory target of 143 in 25 overs, were cruising nicely before making a mess of things in the middle of the innings. However, they recovered to achieve the target on the penultimate ball.

Dawn skipper Samiul Hasan hit an unbeaten 41 after having picked up five wickets for 26 runs. He was later adjudged Man-of-the-final.

After 15 overs, Dawn needed a run-rate of 5.5. But off the last 30 balls required 33 runs. The task became more difficult when they needed 22 off 18 balls and then 16 off 12 balls.

In the final over, with seven needed, Sami ensured that the trophy and winners cheque of Rs50,000 came to Dawn when he struck the winning boundary, fourth of his innings, on the penultimate ball with scores tied.

Put into bat, Jang were dismissed for 142 on the last ball of the allotted 25 overs. Mohammad Salim (47), S.M. Kamran (32), Azhar Sharif (22) were the prominent contributors.

Sami picked up two wickets in his first spell and then returned in the death overs to add another three. He was well supported by off-spinner Zafar Iqbal who finished with two for 26.

In the target chase, Dawn’s prolific run-getter Irfan Ali, who before this game scored 437 in four innings, chipped in with a useful 30 with three boundaries. He was later adjudged Man-of-the- Tournament.

For Jang, off-spinner Mohammad Nasir bowled excellently and gave the losing finalists glimmer of hope by snapping up three wickets for 18. Ikram Mahmood recovered from Irfan’s onslaught to finish with two for 30.

At the end of the match, President of the National Bank of Pakistan, Ali Raza, awarded prizes.

While Dawn collected Rs50,000, Jang received Rs25,000 and the two losing finalists — The News and Radio Pakistan — got Rs15,000 each.

The final was also watched by the Chief Executive of Dawn Group, Mr Hameed Haroon, and Editor Mr Saleem Asmi, besides other top officials.

SUMMARISED SCORES: