KARACHI: Qasmi Gymkhana made history on Tuesday by reaching the final of the 33rd Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Cricket Festival for the Omar Associates Trophy with a clinical rout of Agha Steel by seven wickets.

Shahbaz Javed was the start of the lopsided second semi-final at the Karachi Gymkhana Ground with a blazing 54-ball knock of 71, which was embedded with four sixes and three fours, as Qasmi Gymkhana set a title-decider with Omar CC by chasing down a target of 138 in 17.1 overs.

Riaz Mirani partnered man-of-the-match in an opening stand of 89 as he scored 35 off 30 balls with the aid of five boundaries and one six. Bilal Irshad, nephew of Pakistan batting legend Mohammad Yousuf, remained undefeated with an 11-ball cameo of 25 that included a brace of boundaries.

Earlier, after opting to bat first Agha Steel were all out for 136 after being 56-5 in the eighth over.

The left-handed Ramiz Aziz scored 40 from 36 deliveries with one six and a four, opener Mohammad Afzal hit four fours and one six in a blistering 12-ball innings of 25 while Imran hoisted two sixes and hit two fours in a 21-ball effort of 32.

Summarised scores:

AGHA STEEL 136 in 19.1 overs (Ramiz Raja 40, Imran Ali 32, Mohammad Afzal 25; Wasim Ali 2-22, Rizwan Khan 2-24); QASMI GYMKHANA 138-3 in 17.1 overs (Shahbaz Javed 71, Riaz Mirani 35, Bilal Irshad 25 not out; Kashif Bhatti 2-26).

Wednesday’s fixture: Final — Qasmi Gymkhana vs Omar CC (2:30pm PST).

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2018