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KARACHI, March 21: Lahore Eagles flew into the final of the National One-day Regional Gold League cricket championship with an effortless six-wicket victory over Karachi Zebras at the National Stadium on Tuesday. Chasing a modest target of 230, the Eagles condemned the Zebras to a sixth successive defeat by scoring 233 for four in the 38th over.
The Eagles, who finished second in the standings, will face group leaders Faisalabad Wolves in the final at the same venue on Thursday.
The Zebras never looked like setting a tall order for the Eagles and were bowled for 229 after losing the toss.
Barring wicket-keeper Aminur Rahman (72 off 69 balls, six fours and one six) and Naumanullah (60 off 75 balls, two fours), the rest of Zebras’ batting caved in against aggressive bowling, led by speedsters Mohammad Khalil and Jamshed Ahmed.
Khalil, the left-armer, finished with three for 34 while the impressive Jamshed, a member of the Pakistan Under-19 World Cup-winning squad, dismissed Shadab Kabir, skipper Hasan Raza (third-ball duck) and Amin.
The Eagles lost an early wicket. But they cruised home thanks to good contributions from opener Abid Ali (52 off 49 balls, eight fours), Kamran Sajid (59 off 90 balls, three fours and one six) and skipper Aamir Sajjad (52 off 36 balls, six fours and one six).
The left-handed Kamran and Aamir added 83 for the unbroken fourth-wicket partnership.
Scoreboard
KARACHI ZEBRAS:
Khurram Manzoor c Kamran b Khalil 32
Shadab Kabir c Abid b Jamshed 4
Naumanullah c Arsalan b Sohail 60
Hasan Raza lbw b Jamshed 0
Wasim Naeem c Abid b Arsalan 25
Aminur Rahman b Jamshed 72
Ali Asad c Khalil b Usman 5
Rizwan Saeed b Khalil 16
Fahim Ahmed lbw b Sohail 3
Tabish Khan b Khalil 7
Anwar Ali Khan not out 3
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-1) 2
TOTAL (all out, 48.3 overs) 229
FALL OF WKTS: 1-20, 2-42, 3-47, 4-98, 5-173, 6-192, 7-202, 8-213, 9-222.
BOWLING: Mohammad Khalil 8.3-1-34-2; Jamshed Ahmed 10-1-39-3; Kamran Sajid 4-0-19-0 (1w); Arsalan Mir 7-0-43-1; Usman Malik 10-0-48-1; Sohail Ahmed 9-0-45-2.
LAHORE EAGLES:
Mohammad Ashfaq c Hasan b Tabish 4
Abid Ali c and b Nauman 52
Jahangir Mirza c Khurram b Rizwan 20
Kamran Sajid not out 59
Arsalan Mir c and b Fahim 28
Aamir Sajjad not out 52
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-11, NB-5) 18
TOTAL (for four wkts, 37.3 overs) 233
FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-42, 3-110, 4-150.
DID NOT BAT: Sohail Ahmed, Shahbaz Butt, Usman Malik, Mohammad Khalil, Jamshed Ahmed.
BOWLING: Tabish Khan 5-0-28-1 (1nb, 3w); Anwar Ali Khan 4-0-32-0 (3nb, 3w); Rizwan Saeed 3-0-23-1 (1w); Wasim Naeem 6-0-31-0 (1nb); Naumanullah 9-0-42-1 (1w); Fahim Ahmed 5-0-33-1 (1w); Hasan Raza 3.3-0-20-0 (2w); Shadab Kabir 2-0-22-0.
UMPIRES: Shakeel Khan and Riazuddin.
MATCH REFEREE: Abdul Sami Khan.
Final standings
(Tabulated under played, won, lost, no-result, points, net run-rate):
Faisalabad Wolves 6 6 - - 24 +0.896
Lahore Eagles 6 4 2 - 16 +0.365
Peshawar Panthers 6 3 3 - 12 +0.139
Multan Tigers 6 3 3 - 12 -0.199
Sialkot Stallions 6 3 3 - 12 -0.216
Rawalpindi Rams 6 2 4 - 8 -0.262
Karachi Zebras 6 - 6 - 0 -0.870
