KARACHI: Aided by three half-centuries, Omar CC comfortably prevailed past Karachi Gymkhana to qualify for the final of the 33rd Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Cricket Festival for the Omar Associates Trophy here on Monday.

The first semi-final at the KG Ground was dominated by the Omar CC with Ahsan Ali, Danish Aziz and Usman Khan all making noteworthy contributions after the host team skipper Farhan Arif opted to field first at the toss.

Opener Ahsan slammed 54 from 31 balls with four boundaries and a brace of sixes. Danish then banged a quickfire 54 off 30 deliveries as the young left-hander hit four fours and three sixes as he and Usman together forged a fourth-wicket partnership of exactly 100.

Usman, who was declared man-of-the-match, was in punishing mood as he belted six sixes and three fours in making a swashbuckling 63 from just 25 deliveries.

Slow left-armer Rafay Safdar claimed three wickets but his four overs went for 58 runs, while skipper Farhan took 2-32 with his off-spinners.

Karachi Gymkhana were restricted to 175-7 in the chase with opener Taimur Sultan hitting a defiant 67 off 44 balls while striking 10 boundaries and two sixes.

Discarded international Bilal Asif bowled exceedingly well to snare four wickets for 30 runs with his off-spinners.

Omar CC’s opponents in Wednesday’s title-decider will be decided on Tuesday when Qasmi Gymkhana take on Agha Steel in the second semi-final.

Summarised scores:

OMAR CC 238-6 in 20 overs (Usman Khan 63, Ahsan Ali 54, Danish Aziz 54, Rameez Raja 25, Umar Akmal 20; Rafay Safdar 3-58, Farhan Arif 2-32); KARACHI GYMKHANA 175-7 in 20 overs (Taimur Sultan 67, Ashraf Ali 33, Bilal Munir 29, Khurram Manzoor 26; Bilal Asif 4-30).

Tuesday’s fixture: Second semi-final — Qasmi Gymkhana vs Agha Steel (2:30pm PST).

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2018