KARACHI: Fine batting from Shahid Yousuf and Owais Ahmed Rehmani catapulted Dollar East into the final of the fourth Naya Nazimabad Karachi Kings Ramazan Cup T20 Cricket Tournament with a crushing six-wicket defeat of Southern Gas Company (SSGC) here on Thursday night.

Watched by a sizeable crowd at the Lawai Cricket Stadium with Honourable Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and provincial minister for sports Sardar Mohammad Buksh Khan Mahar in attendance, Dollar East romped home thanks to the 118-run second-wicket partnership between Shahid and Owais.

Man-of-the-match Shahid slammed nine fours and one six in his 54-ball undefeated knock of 65, while Owais cracked 54 off 44 balls with the help of four boundaries and a brace of sixes as Dollar East romped home for the loss of four wic­ket in 18 overs by reaching 132-4.

Dollar East lost Bilal Shah to the first ball of innings when the opener was bowled by paceman Aamir Yamin before losing Umar Akmal to the same bowler for one.

But Shahid and Owais ensured Dollar East stayed on course with fine exhibition of stroke-play.

Earlier, slow left-armer Tauheed Khan snared four wickets for 15 runs in a fine spell, while Dollar East skipper and ex-Pakistan paceman Mohammad Sami grabbed 3-31 as SSGC were dismissed for 131 in 18.5 overs.

Discarded Pakistan speedster Sohail Khan shone with a 26-ball 42 that included four sixes and two fours. Sarfraz Ahmed, skipper of the Champions Trophy-winning Pakistan team, also watched the second semi-final for a while.

Summarised scores:

SSGC 131 in 18.5 overs (Sohail Khan 42, Tariq Haroon 18, Adil Amin 14; Tauheed Khan 4-31, Mohammad Sami 3-31); DOLLAR EAST 132-4 in 18 overs (Shahid Yousuf 65 not out, Owais Ahmed Rehmani 44, Aamir Yamin 2-15, Usama Mir 2-25).

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2017