KARACHI, Sept 26: Hosts Aga Khan University (AKU) Staff and United Bank Limited (UBL) qualified for the final of the 5th AKU Sports and Rehabilitation Centre cricket tournament after winning their semifinals on Sunday.

UBL thrashed ABN-Amro Bank in the first semifinal by nine wickets thanks to a hurricane knock of 75 by Asif Siddiqui, who blasted seven sixes and five fours while facing just 46 balls.

Asif virtually dominated the opening partnership of 87 with M.A. Mannan (32 not out). Mannan also played second fiddle to Omar Masood, who struck a 28-ball 48 (including five fours and one six) in the unbroken second-wicket stand of 82.

In the other semifinal, AKU Staff posted 158 for nine in 25 overs before bowling out PPTA for 108 in the 21st over to triumph by 50 runs.

Summarised scores:

UBL beat ABN-Amro by nine wickets.

ABN-AMRO 165-9 in 25 overs (Rashid 39, Zahid Raza 34, Clifford Lucas 32; Zubair Munshi 3-16, Usman Chaudhry 2-26); UBL 169-1 in 19.4 overs (Asif Siddiqui 75, Omar Masood 48 not out, M.A. Mannan 32 not out).

AKU Staff beat PPTA by 50 runs.

AKU STAFF 158-9 in 25 overs (Adnan Jafferi 37, Mir Afzal 35, Badar Jiwani 27; Shakeel 4-38, Mohammad Javed 2-14); PPTA 108 in 20.5 overs (Kamran Shah 38, Abdullah 24 not out; Adnan Jafferi 2-16, Shiraz Ishaq 2-17, Moiz Mehdi 2-26).