July 23, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 19, 1429

KARACHI, July 22: Central Zone Blues and Central Zone Greens scored comfortable victories in the ongoing women’s Twenty20 quadrangular cricket championship here at the Quaid-i-Azam Park cricket ground in Steel Township on Tuesday.

In the first match Central Zone Blues handed South Zone their first loss in four games as they defeated them by six wickets before Central Zone Greens romped to a nine-wicket rout of North Zone in the other fixture.

After being asked to bat first, South reached 125 for four in their allotted quota of 20 overs mainly due to an unbroken partnership of 62 between skipper Urooj Mumtaz Khan and Sana Mir.

Urooj, who is also the Pakistan captain, scored 25 off 34 deliveries, while Sana struck an aggressive 34 off 30 balls striking three fours and one six after the pair came with South in deep trouble at 63 for four in 11 overs.

Extras also played a part in South’s cause with 17 being conceded by Blues, including 13 wides. But apart from Urooj and Sana, only Sajjida Shah managed to contribute significantly as she hit four boundaries in a 13-ball 20.

However, the target was never beyond the reach of the Blues, who owed their deserved victory to young batswoman Bismah Maroof. The opener scored an unbeaten 50 at run-a-ball in a well-crafted innings that featured four hits to the fence.

Good understanding between Bismah and fellow opener Marina Iqbal launched the innings at a frenetic pace as the opening three overs yielded 27 runs as the pair put on 61.

Marina was run out by Sajida Shah after making 29 off 26 balls. This was followed by the dismissal of new girl Mehwish Tariq, who was bowled out by Javeria Khan after just contributing a single. Still things weren’t so out of control with Bismah still there at the crease.

The scene changed with South dropping three catches. Their skipper also chipped in by dropping Nida Dar, who helped Bismah put on 45 for the third wicket.

The tug of war carried on, with Nida (25 off 25 balls) stumped by Batool Fatima off off-spinner Sajjida, who promptly had Almas Akram in identical fashion for a first-ball duck.

Blues evened the scores in 18.4 overs with Bismah facing on 46. The young opener, who was denied a half century in Monday’s match against North Zone, when the innings ended with her on 48, completed a well-earned half century this time with the winning boundary.

Bismah was declared Woman-of-the-Match.

In the second match, North Zone opted to bat first after their skipper Qanita Jalil won the toss.

The decision paid off as Wajiha Sundas (20) and Sana Javed added 54 for the opening wicket inside 12 overs. But thereafter it was pretty much a one-way traffic as North collapsed dramatically with none of the remaining batswomen even managing to reach double figures. Three of them — Marium Hassan, Salma Faiz and Naila Qureshi — went for ducks as Sana, who slammed eight fours, fought on bravely to top-score with 46 off 54 balls.

Off spinner Asfa Batool was the pick of the Greens’ bowlers with outstanding figures of three for eight in four overs. Skipper Asmavia Iqbal and Sana Gulzar proved good foils with two wickets apiece.

Greens needed 14.3 overs to achieve victory with Arman Khan (46 off 44 balls, five fours and one six) and Sukkah Faiz (26 off 40 balls, three fours) providing a perfect launching pad with an opening stand of 68.

Asfa Batool was named Woman-of-the-Match.

Summarised scores:

SOUTH ZONE 125-4 in 20 overs (Sana Mir 34 not out, Urooj Mumtaz 25 not out, Sajjida Shah 20, Nain Abidi 15, Javeria Khan 12; Almas Akram 2-26); CENTRAL ZONE BLUES 129-4 in 18.5 overs (Bismah Maroof 50 not out, Marina Iqbal 29, Nida Dar 25; Sajjida Shah 2-31).

NORTH ZONE 82 in 19.4 overs (Sana Javed 46, Wajiha Sundas 20; Asfa Batool 3-8, Asmavia Iqbal 2-17, Sana Gulzar 2-20); CENTRAL ZONE GREENS 83-1 in 14.3 overs (Arman Khan 46 not out, Sukkah Faiz 26).