KARACHI: The second semi-final and the final of the Patron’s Trophy (Grade-II) Cricket Tournament will be played in Karachi due to inclement weather in the Punjab.

According to a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) media release issued on Thursday, K-Electric and Karachi Port Trust will play the semi-final — which was abandoned without a ball being bowled at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot following heavy rains in the industrial city — at the National Stadium from April 7 to 9.

The winners of this rescheduled fixture would qualify for the four-day final against Omar Associates at the National Stadium from April 12.

Inclement weather in Punjab

Omar Associates on Wednesday qualified for the title-decider after earning a 139-run lead on the first innings against Khayaban-e-Amin in their rain-hit first semi-final at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

Left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir starred for Omar Associates with an excellent return of six for 47 in 14 overs.

The K-Electric vs KPT match will be supervised by umpires Ehtesham-ul-Haq and Rashid Riaz with former Pakistan spinner Masood Anwaar as the match referee and Mohammad Ahsan as official scorer.

Surprisingly, while Ehtesham and Rashid has been retained after they were due to officiate in the Sialkot semi-final, the PCB has opted to replace the appointed match referee of that game Amiruddin Ansari with Masood, who appeared in a solitary Test against the West Indies in December 1990 at Lahore where legendary Brian Lara also marked his debut with scores of 44 and 5.

Incidentally both Masood and Amiruddin are based in Karachi. It is likely that former first-class cricketer Amiruddin, who is also the current secretary of the Pakistan Disabled Cricket Association, might be asked to officiate in the final since he is the senior match referee compared to Masood.

The reward for the eventual champions of the Patron’s Trophy will be the first-class status and a place in next season’s Silver League tier of the prestigious Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2015

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