KARACHI: A sparkling century by all-rounder Imtiaz Leghari propelled Brothers CC Dadu into the knockout stage of the 30th Karachi Gymkhana Omar Associates Ramazan Cricket Festival with a crushing 96-run defeat of Karachi Gymkhana Blues match at the KK Ground here on Friday.

Electing to bat first in the Group ‘B’ fixture, Brothers CC posted a decent 182-9 in 20 overs.

Imtiaz was the star performer with a belligerent contribution of 101 from mere 48 balls. His brilliant innings was adorned with no less than 11 sixes and four boundaries. Asif Babar played a supporting role by making 34.

Off-spinner Shaz Shahjani captured five wickets for only nine runs in a standout bowling exhibition.

But despite Shah bowling so well, Karachi Gymkhana Blues fared miserably with the bat and were eventually sent packing for a pathetic 86.

Leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood proved unplayable with figures of 5-12. Imtiaz completed a grand all-round performance by taking two wickets for 19 runs with his medium-pacers to become the undisputed man-of-the-match.

Summarised scores:

BROTHERS CC DADU 182-9 in 20 overs (Imtiaz Leghari 101, Asif Babar 34; Shaz Shahjani 5-9, Rafay Safdar 2-26, Zeeshan Essa 2-29); KARACHI GYMKHANA BLUES 86 in 20 overs (Farhan Arif 19, Umair Usman 14; Zahid Mahmood 5-12, Imtiaz Leghari 2-19, Sajid Ali 2-20).

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015

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