COLOMBO: Jinnah Government College of Karachi cruised to a thumping seven-wicket victory over Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Commerce, Pune (MMCC College) on the opening day of the World Finals of Red Bull Campus Cricket recently.

The spirit of bonhomie, however, was strong between the rival players of Pakistan and India and the match was marked by good feeling.

Just as Pakistan had skittled India for a low-score at the Champions Trophy final this year, thanks in part to the bowling of Hasan Ali, another Hasan starred in Jinnah Government College, Karachi’s victory, as Pakistan bowling proved too good for India’s batting once again.

In taking 4 for 21 from 3.1 overs, Hasan Mohsin sent India’s MMMC College hurtling to their eventual score of 81. They were all out in the 17th over despite two straightforward catches going down.

That total was never likely to test the Jinnah Government College, Karachi top order, which sauntered to the target inside 15 overs — opener Muhammad Azad making the top score of 38 not out off 51 balls.

There are eight teams competing in the World Finals includingSri Lanka’s Business Management School (BMS), Australia’s University of Sydney, Bangladesh’s University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), Zimbabwe’s National University of Science & Technology (NUST), India’s Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Commerce (MMCC College) in Pune, Pakistan’s Jinnah Government College Nazimabad, Karachi, South Africa’s North-West University (NWU) and UAE’s Herriot Watt University, Dubai.

Red Bull Campus Cricket is an annual international T20 (20-over) tournament for college cricket teams, providing a platform for young talent to play on a world stage and make their way into professional cricket. The competition was launched in 2012 and is now in its sixth year.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2017