CAPE TOWN: Pakistan overpowered arch-rivals India by four wickets in their Group B encounter of the Over-50 World Cup Cricket Tournament 2020 being staged in Cape Town, South Africa.

In the other matches of the day, New Zealand whacked Canada by 98 runs, Zimbabwe defeated Sri Lanka by nine runs, Australia elbowed out West Indies by three wickets, South Africa edged out England by two runs and Wales hammered Namibia by eight wickets.

The 15-member Pakistan squad will now be up against South Africa, Wales and England in their remaining games after having prevailed over Namibia and India. Holders Australia feature in the Group A alongwith New Zealand, Canada, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Electing to bat after calling correctly, India squandered a solid start to be restricted to 193 for seven in the allotted 45 overs. Pakistan, in reply, lost wickets at regular intervals but it was the pair of Mahmood Hamid and Jaffer Qureshi which saw them home in the final over with four wickets standing.

All-rounder Jaffer Qureshi, having played the pivotal role in guiding Pakistan to an emphatic triumph over Namibia in the opening game, extended his brilliant form with bat and ball to lead his country to another victory.

Alongwith Imtiaz Tarar, who claimed four wickets for 45 runs to clinch Man of the Match award, Jaffer Qureshi, with his figures of two for 27 off nine overs, was instrumental in restricting debutants India to a total below 200 after fine knocks from Iqbal Khan (56 off 85 balls), P G Sundar (52 off 62 balls) and Sanjay Beri (38 off 43 balls) had laid the foundation for a huge score.

Favourites Pakistan, who finished runners-up in the inaugural tournament a couple of years ago in Australia, maintained a healthy run-rate while chasing the target of 194 but the Indians managed to keep the contest alive by picking up regular wickets.

Openers Sajid Ali (25 off 28 balls) and Raja Arshad Hayat (33 off 21 balls) got them off to a flyer while Dastagir Butt (36 off 62 balls), Azhar Khan (24 off 34 balls) and skipper Ghaffar Kazmi (22 off 32 balls) consolidated the position.

The match, however, was still wide open when Mahmood Hamid was joined by left-handed Jaffer Qureshi. They stitched a wonderful partnership which got Pakistan over the line. The flamboyant Jaffer Qureshi, who stroked one six and three fours in unbeaten 31 off 34 balls) was well complimented by the steady Mahmood who returned undefeated on 22 off 53 balls.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2020