KARACHI: Faisal Mubashir shepherded Vital Five CC into the semi-finals of the third Vital Five Ramazan Festival T20 cricket tournament with an unbeaten half century which enabled the hosts outgunned Qasmi CC by five wickets on Wednesday.

Chasing a competitive target of 176 in the third quarter-final at the Vital Five Ground, the tournament hosts achieved victory with four balls left. Faisal played a defining part in his team’s success with a 38-ball 65 which included seven boundaries.

Hafiz Asad Baig (43 off 24 balls, seven fours) helped man-of-the-match Faisal put on 53 for the third wicket. Tasawwar Abbas blasted three sixes in a 12-ball cameo of 26 while adding 40 for the fourth wicket with Faisal.

Earlier, Qasmi CC were all out for 175 in 19.5 overs after skipper Abid Qasmi won the toss and opted to bat first. Opener Kamran Hussain struck a blazing 55 off just 29 deliveries with the aid of five sixes and four fours.

Slow left-armer Mustafa Iqbal claimed four wickets for 23 runs in 3.5 overs with Rameez Aziz taking 3-27 in a four-over spell of off-spinners.

Summarised scores:

QASMI CC 175 in 19.5 overs (Kamran Hussain 55, Wasim Ali 25, Talha Fahim 22; Mustafa Iqbal 4-23, Rameez Aziz 3-27); VITAL FIVE CC 179-5 in 19.2 overs (Faisal Mubashir 65 not out, Hafiz Asad Baig 43, Tasawwar Abbas 26; Bilal Asif 2-28).

Thursday’s fixture: Vital Five CC vs YJ XI (first semi-final).

Published in Dawn, July 24th , 2014