February 09, 2008	Saturday	Safar 01, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 8: Karachi Region U-16 team beat the Quetta Region U-16 outfit by eight wickets to qualify for the semi-final of the PCB Inter Region U-16 Cricket Tournament at the PCB Academy Ground on Friday.

Put into bat first, Quetta Region were skittled out for a paltry 110 runs in 36.1 overs. M. Zahid was the only Quetta batsman to face Karachi bowlers with courage for his 30. Medium pacer Irfanuzzaman (4 for 16) was the wrecker-in-chief for Karachi. He was well supported by Shiraz Ali, Khurram Shahzad and Faraz Ahmed who took two wickets apiece for 16, 14 and 19 runs respectively.

Karachi Region then reeled off the required runs for the loss of just two wickets. Both Hasan Azad (37) and skipper Abdullah Shah (33) remained unbeaten to ensure victory for Karachi. Earlier M. Shahbaz made a quick 26 with five hits to the boundary.

On the opening day of the tournament on Wednesday, Hyderabad had shocked Karachi in a thrilling encounter by one wicket. Batting first, Karachi U-16 were restricted to 178 in the stipulated 40 overs. Faizan Khan (31 not out), Shahbaz (25) and Shiraz Ali (24) batted well. Saadullah (2 for 33) and Rao Sajid (2 for 33) tore through the Karachi batting.

In reply Hyderabad’s run chase was led by Mohammad Qaddafi who made a swashbuckling 84 with two sixes and eight fours. Rao Sajid lent him good support with a fighting unbeaten 25. Irfanuzzaman and Khurram Shahzad captured two wickets each for 45 and 21 runs respectively.

All the three teams in Pool C earned four points each but Karachi topped with a better run rate to qualify and meet winners of Pool A in the semi-final at National Stadium on Feb 14.

Summarised scores:

Hyderabad beat Karachi by 1 wicket at PCB Academy Ground.

Karachi 178 for 8 in 40 overs (Faizan Khan 31 n.o., M. Shahbaz 25, Shiraz Ali 24, Ahsan Ali 23, Abdullah Shah 20, Saadullah 2-32, Rao Sajid 2-32, Nazimuddin 2-34);Hyderabad 179 for 9 in 39.5 overs. (M. Qaddafi 84, Rao Sajid 25. Shahzeb Ali 2-42, Faraz Ahmed 2-22, Khurram 2-21 and Irfanuzzaman 2-15).

Karachi beat Quetta by 8 wickets at PCB Academy Ground.

Quetta 110 in 36.1 overs. (M. Zaheer 30, Shahzeb Ali 4-90, Khurram Shahzad 2-16); Karachi 113 for 2 in 20 overs. (Hasan Azad 37 n.o., Abdullah Shah 33 n.o).—Agencies