July 22, 2008	Tuesday	Rajab 18, 1429

KARACHI, July 21: South Zone managed a hat-trick of wins when they beat Central Zone Greens by 10 runs while Central Zone Blues scored their second win by beating North Zone by five wickets in the ongoing first National Women’s Quadrangular Championship at the Quaid-e-Azam Cricket Park on Monday.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, South’s skipper Urooj read the wicket well as a fine batting pitch as her side put up 122, thanks to opener Nain Abidi’s spectacular half-century which came up off 56 balls in a 51-minute stay at the crease. For the loss of just three wickets, it was a smooth first innings for a side that comprises six to seven national team members.

The chase, however, was a slightly different story. The Central Zone Greens outfit struggled all along and finished with just 112 in the stipulated overs, having lost eight wickets in the process. Urooj’s tight leg break bowling got her another three wickets. She has taken three in every match so far.

This was also the first match in tournament where the team batting second was unable to chase the target. South’s Nain was declared Woman of the Match by Match Referee Mahmood Rashid.

There was some bad news for South when they lost one of their key pacers due to a hand injury. Greens’ Arman Khan played a shot which bounced off bowler Kainat Imtiaz’s right hand, slicing it like a knife. Holding her bleeding hand, she was led off the field with the left-arm spinner Kanwal Naz completing her over. Kainat, with two stitches in her hand, is as good as out of the tournament.

The second match in the afternoon saw Central Zone Blues easily managing to reach the 100-run target, set for them by North Zone.

After their last two wins, it is evident that Blues have recovered well from their first day defeat where they as good as gifted the match to South by giving away 27 extras. They must also be getting used to Karachi’s weather as skipper Sabahat Rashid had earlier said that they weren’t expecting the breezy conditions at Quaid-e-Azam Park compared to rainy weather at their home base.

Blues won the toss and put North in to bat. North’s batsman and captain Qanita Jalil became the highest scorer for the side with a fine 32 that included five fours and one six. Sana (26) also played well. Nida excelled with the leather, capturing 4-15 in her tidy spell.

In reply, Blues reached their target in 17.2 overs. Young opener Bisma Maroof, who missed her half century by just two runs, was the architect of Blues win and deservedly named Woman of the Match.

Summarised scores:

SOUTH ZONE 122-3 in 20 overs (Nain Abidi 58 not out, Sana Mir 25 not out, Urooj Mumtaz 19); CENTRAL ZONE GREENS 112-8 in 20 overs (Nazia Nazir 19 not out, Shumaila Mushtaq 18, Sana Gulzar 16, Arman Khan 15, Asmavia Iqbal 12; Urooj Mumtaz 3-20).

NORTH ZONE 99-8 in 20 overs (Qanita Jalil 32, Sana Javed 26, Shakeela Naz 16; Nida Dar 4-15, Zeba Manzoor 2-15); CENTRAL ZONE BLUES 100-5 in 17.2 overs (Bisma Maroof 48 not out, Mehwish Tariq 10; Shakeela Naz 2-17).