KARACHI: Skipper Nadeem Omar played a brilliant innings of 68 off just 64 but it was not enough in the end as Omar Associates lost the exhibition match against Karachi Gymkhana by 22 runs here at the Karachi Gymkhana Ground the other day.

The match was organised by Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association.

Batting first, Karachi Gymkhana scored 191 for five in 22 overs with Saleem Parekh being the topscorer with 50 off 48 balls, hitting six fours while Tayyab Yousuf remained undefeated on 38 off 32 balls with the help of four boundaries. Leg-spinner Sajid Ansari (2-30) was the pick of the Omar Associates bowlers.

Chasing 192 in 22 overs, Omar Associates got off to a flying start through openers Nadeem Omar and Fawad Ijaz Khan, both of whom scored briskly to put on 120 runs in the opening stand.

Fawad was dismissed after scoring 48 off 44 balls that included five fours while Nadeem went on to score a superb unbeaten 68 off 64 balls with the aid of three boundaries.

However, the asking rate got big on Omar Associates who were eventually restricted to 169 for four in 22 overs. For KG, Akhter Muneer and Jaffer Qureshi took 2 wickets each for 22 and 25 runs respectively.

Muzaffar Alam presented the Man of the Match award to Nadeem for his fine knock while Saleem Parekh and Akhtar Munir were declared best batman and best bowler respectively.

Published in Dawn, November 18th , 2014