KARACHI: Opener Moham­mad Afzal struck a brilliant half-century as Agha Steel grabbed the remaining last-four spot in the 33rd Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Cricket Festival for the Omar Associates Trophy with a five-wicket win against Sparco Paints here on Sunday.

The last quarter-final at the Karachi Gymkhana Ground saw Sparco Paints ride on a blistering 33-ball innings of 68 from Arshad Pathan to collect 163-7 after skipper Zeeshan Ahmed chose to bat first at the toss.

Arshad’s blazing unbeaten knock was spiced with no less than seven sixes and four boundaries after he had arrived to the middle with his side real strife at 60-5 in the ninth over.

Kamran Afzal lent excellent support to Arshad in their seventh-wicket partnership of 68 after the two of them got together at 63-6. Kamran made 24 off 26 balls with one six and one four. Among the early batsmen only opener Jumma Khan played a good hand of 33 from only 19 balls with five fours and a brace of sixes.

Slow left-armer Hasan Mahmood was easily the pick of the Agha Steel bowling with miserly figures of three wickets for 14 runs in four overs, with fellow southpaw spinner Kashif Bhatti taking 2-24 in four overs.

Afzal then ensured Agha Steel stayed on course as he hammered 71 from just 37 deliveries while stroking eight boundaries and a brace of sixes after his opening partner Nabeel Khalid had bludgeoned a quickfire 23 off only nine balls with four fours and one six.

Skipper Ramiz Aziz helped man-of-the-match Afzal put on 62 for the second wicket with the left-handed Ramiz contributing a 22-ball 26 with two fours.

Agha Steel will take on the high-flying Qasmi Gymkhana in the second semi-final on Tuesday after Omar CC meet hosts Karachi Gymkhana in the first pre-final on Monday.

Summarised scores:

SPARCO PAINTS 163-7 in 20 overs (Arshad Pathan 68 not out, Jumma Khan 33, Kamran Afzal 24; Hasan Mahmood 3-14, Kashif Bhatti 2-24); AGHA STEEL 165-5 in 19 overs (Mohammad Afzal 71, Ramiz Aziz 26, Nabeel Khalid 23, Jahandad Khan 17 not out, Sohail Akhtar 14 not out; Kamran Afzal 2-20, Asfand Mehran 2-40).

Monday’s fixture: First semi-final — Omar CC vs Karachi Gymkhana (2:30pm PST).

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2018