KARACHI, June 19: A fighting 27-run unbroken stand between Tabish Nawab and Anis Ayub guided Zone-I Whites into the semifinals of KCCA Inter-zonal Under-15 cricket tournament with a nail-biting one wicket win over Zone-IV Whites at Students Ground here on Wednesday.
Zone-IV Whites, batting first, were bowled out for 132 in 41.3 overs. Zone-I Whites, in reply, were reeling at 108 for nine but Tabish (25) and Anis (2) then came together in the match-winning last wicket partnership.
The match between Zone-III Whites and Zone-VII Whites ended in an exciting tie with both teams scoring 165 but Zone-III Whites secured a place in the last four on a better run-rate.
Slow left-arm spinner Jahanzeb Lodhi captured six for 53 for Zone-III Whites.
Zone-V Whites also qualified for the semifinals with crushing nine-wicket victory over Zone-II Blues in a low-scoring match.
Zone-II Blues were dismissed for exactly 100 in 44.1 overs.
Summarised scores:
*Zone-I Whites beat Zone-IV Whites by one wicket at Students Sports Ground.
ZONE-IV WHITES 132 in 41.3 overs (Nadeem Khan 27, Sohail Abbas 21, Faraz Ahmed 21; Mannan Aftab 2-11, Anis Ayub 2-17, Junaid Ahmed 2-34);
ZONE-I WHITES 135-9 in 44.2 overs (Raheel-ur-Rehman 27, Tabish Nawab 25 not out; Aamir Shah 4-30, Faraz Ahmed 3-43).
*Zone-III Whites tied with Zone-VII Whites at TMC Ground.
ZONE-III WHITES 165 in 46.1 overs (Hamzi-ul-Hasan 43, Abrar-ul-Haq 30, Saad Azeem 20; Faizan Ali 3-23, Shahzeb Khan 2-32, Shiraz Ali 2-42);
ZONE-VII WHITES 165-7 in 50 overs (Faizan Ali 21, Umair Warsi 29, Taimur Ali 25, Usman Bilal 20; Jahanzeb Lodhi 2-32).
*Zone-V Whites beat Zone-III Blues by nine wickets at Landhi Gymkhana Ground.