KARACHI: Pakistan discard Iftikhar Ahmed excelled with a solid all-round performance as Karachi Gymkhana stunned Tapal CC by a comprehensive margin of seven wickets to reach the semi-finals of the 33rd Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Cricket Festival for the Omar Associates Trophy here on Thursday.

Opting to bat first in the opening quarter-final at the KG Ground, Tapal CC fell away badly from being 99-1 in the 11th over to 152-9. Hafiz Asad Baig stood out with a splendid 43-ball knock of 67 that included seven fours and three sixes.

Asad and opener Nadeem Javed, who scored 28 off 27 deliveries with a brace of boundaries, shared a second-wicket partnership of 83 after hard-hitting Zakir Malik perished for an eventual 16. Having hit the first four deliveries of the match for fours, the opener was caught on the fifth as he attempted a big hit against slow left-armer Haroon Sadaqat.

Haroon finished with figures of three wickets for 43 runs in four overs, while Iftikhar bagged 2-23 in four overs with off-spinners.

Karachi Khan were 50-3 in the chase after eight overs with opener Taimur Sultan already gone for a 21-ball 23 (three fours). It then left to man-of-the-match Iftikhar and Ashraf Ali to guide Karachi Gymkhana home in an unbroken stand of 106.

Iftikhar slammed five sixes and three fours in making 67 from 42 balls, while Ashraf contributed 41 off 26 with the aid of two fours and one six.

Summarised scores:

TAPAL CC 152-9 in 20 overs (Hafiz Asad Baig 67, Nadeem Javed 28, Zakir Malik 16; Haroon Sadaqat 3-43, Iftikhar Ahmed 2-23); KARACHI GYMKHANA 156-3 in 19 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 64 not out, Ashraf Ali 41 not out, Taimur Sultan 23; Mohammad Aamir 2-37).

Friday’s fixture: Second quarter-final — Qasmi Gymkhana vs Sindh Police (2:30pm PST).

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2018