KARACHI: Ali Sarfraz played a defining knock of 53 as Tapal CC defeated Soni Associates by five wickets to move into the semi-finals of the third Vital Five Ramazan Festival T20 cricket tournament here on Friday.

Left-handed Ali Sarfraz, a son of former first-class cricketer Raja Sarfraz, struck five boundaries and one six in his 42-ball innings that eventually helped Tapal CC reach their target in 19.1 overs after their opponents had collected 160-8 in the last of the quarter-finals.

Daniyal Ahsan also made an invaluable contribution of 33 (23 balls, two fours and one six) while adding 57 for the third wicket with Ali after Tapal CC had suffered a blow early on when opener Babar Rehman retired hurt after making three.

All-rounder Rashid Hanif blasted six boundaries in a 13-ball cameo of 29 not out to finish the game in favour of Tapal CC.

Earlier, Tapal CC skipper Atif Maqbool, who was declared man-of-the-match, grabbed two wickets for 21 runs after opting to bowl first upon winning the toss.

The mainstay for Soni Associates was opener Ali Iqbal who clobbered five sixes and three fours in making 57 from 42 deliveries. Rizwan Qureshi blasted a quick 16-ball 30 that was laced with four hits to the fence.

Summarised scores:

SONI ASSOCIATES 160-8 in 20 overs (Ali Iqbal 57, Rizwan Qureshi 30, Ahmed Hussain 24; Atif Maqbool 2-21, Azam Hussain 2-36); TAPAL CC 163-5 in 19.1 overs (Ali Sarfraz 53, Daniyal Ahsan 33, Rashid Hanif 29 not out; S.A. Qureshi 2-24, Mohammad Nazir 2-36).

Saturday’s fixture: Omar CC vs Tapal CC (second semi-final).

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2014