ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: Islamabad Royals and Karachi Kings won their opening matches in the First National Twenty20 Veterans Cricket Cup 2008 which kicked off here at Islamabad Gymkhana and Army Stadium on Thursday.

Led by Lt. Gen Munir Hafeez, the Islamabad Royals outclassed Lahore Leopards which were led by Lt. Gen Tauqir Zia in a well-contested match held at Islamabad Gymkhana ground.

Batting first, Islamabad Royals piled up 161 for 3 in 20 overs with Ali Zia hitting up a 28-ball 54. He was well assisted by seasoned campaigner Sadaat Ali who scored 47. Opener Pervez Akhtar made a 40-ball 39.

For Lahore Leopards, Tauqir Zia and Yar Muhammad shared one wicket each. In its chase, Lahore Leopards managed 145 for 3 with Shaikh Salim scoring a fine 77. Mian Munir, hit up 23.

At the Army Stadium, Rawalpindi, Karachi Kings demolished Rawalpindi Askari by a huge margin of 80 runs. Kings hit up 186 for 5 with captain Fawad Ijaz Khan, who is also president PVCA, scoring a brisk 40 and former Test player Ijaz Fakih hitting up a 28-ball 34 and Babar Basharat (29). Lt. Gen Ahad Najmi and Joseph Gill shared the bowling honours by claiming 2 wickets each for 40 and 35 runs respectively.

Rawalpindi Askari were then bowled out for 109. For Rawalpindi, Masood Anwar scored 30, Col Shahid 14 and Joseph Gill 13. Mir Haider Talpur claimed 3 wickets for 29 runs while Haji Ashraf captured 2 for 19 runs. Mehmood Rashid, Fawad Ijaz and Akbar Alam shared one wicket each. Fawad Ijaz was declared Man of the Match.—Agencies