KARACHI: Discarded Pakistan batsman Iftikhar Ahmed just missed out on a hundred but his unbeaten 99 helped holders Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) make the final of the fourth Naya Nazimabad Karachi Kings Ramadan Cup T20 Cricket Tournament with a rousing 72-run victory over PIA here on Wednesday night.

Batting first at the Lawai Cricket Stadium, SNGPL posed 179-4 with Iftikhar hoisting as many as nine sixes and striking four boundaries in his 50-ball knock, while captain Mohammad Rizwan cracked 47 in 43 balls with three fours and two sixes.

PIA were restricted to 107-9 with opener Majid Khan making 45 in 48 balls, laced three fours and one six. Slow left-armer Haider Ali grabbed three wickets for nine runs before Iftikhar was named man-of-the-match.

PIA qualified for the semi-final late on Tuesday night by scoring an eight-wicket victory over National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

Put into bat, NBP were bowled out for 108 with 19.1 overs with Naved Yasin hitting a defiant 38 off 32 balls with five boundaries.

Anwar caused the main damage in the NBP batting ranks with the early wickets of opener Ehsan Ali (13) and Naved Sarwar (5) before finishing with three wickets for 15 runs in 3.1 overs.

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, meanwhile, visited the Lawai Cricket Stadium and both teams were introduced to him during the innings break. Chief organiser and chairman Arif Habib Group Arif Habib and other officials were also present on the occasion.

Summarised scores:

First semi-final: SNPL beat PIA by 72 runs.

SNGPL 179-4 in 20 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 99 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 47; Anwar Ali 2-40); PIA 107-9 in 20 overs (Majid Khan 45, Shaharyar Ghani 18; Haider Ali 3-9, Sadaqat Ali- 2-25).

Fourth quarter-final: PIA beat National Bank by eight wickets.

NATIONAL BANK 108 in 19.1 overs (Naved Yasin 38, Usman Salahuddin 27; Anwar 3-13, Ghulam Mudassar 2-21, Hazrat Shah 2-34); PIA 109-2 in 17.1 overs (Fazal Subhan 41, Shahzar Mohammad 37 not out).

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2017