KARACHI: A total of 103 outfits from 50 cities will be participating in the 19th edition of the National Seniors Cup Cricket Tournament which begins from Saturday with Karachi Gold Bridge taking on Karachi Lucky Knits in the opening match of the Southern Zone at the Lawai Cricket Stadium in Naya Nazimabad.

The details of the event, being organised by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) and sponsored by Omar Associates with Naya Nazimabad as co-sponsors, were unveiled at a media briefing at the Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.

will start with Southern Zone matches will be getting underway on February 10, were shared by Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman, PVCA, in a media briefing here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.

Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar, who is managing director of Omar Associates, observed the senior cricketers were also making a significant contribution in the development of the sport, while complimenting the PVCA to have withstood the challenges and delivered against heavy odds.

PVCA chairman Fawad Ijaz Khan noted that the level of fitness of the cricketers, having crossed the age of 40, has improved considerably over the years primarily due to the introduction of the National Seniors Cup.

Karachi Gymkhana president Akbar Iqbal Puri said that besides installing floodlights at the famous Karachi Gymkhana Cricket Ground, the club was looking forward to having more proactive role in cricket in future.

According to the breakup, 34 city teams from Punjab, eight from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five from Sindh, two from Islamabad one from Balochistan will be taking part in the tournament the final of which will be contested between champions of Northern and Southern Zones in Karachi On April 22.

The total prize money in the event will be Rs694,000.

In the Southern Zone competition, Omar Associates, Fact Date Engineering, A A Pakwan, CAA and Quetta are placed in the Group ‘A ‘while the Group ‘B’ comprises of RLCA, Gold Bridge, Airport Gymkhana, Haseen Habib and Lucky Knits with Hyderabad, Badin, Jamshoro and Mirpurkhas being the drawn in the interior Sindh group.

The group matches of the Southern Zone, taking place at Karachi and Hyderabad, will be of 20 overs each innings whereas the zonal finals as well as the national final will be of 30 overs per innings. The group matches will be organized on single league basis.

The matches of the Northern Zone, which have already started last November, are being played at Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Multan, Okara, Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Muridke, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sialkot while the matches of the Southern Zone

Amjad Islam Rishi will be the Tournament Coordinator while the Southern Zone Committee will be headed by Alamgir Ahmed.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2018