LAHORE: The Inter-divisional Under-19 tournament concluded in five regions on Thursday with champions of the inaugural event crowned in Balochistan, Central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern, and Sindh.

In Balochistan, Yasir Shah-led Loralai-Zhob division downed Quetta-Rakshan by six wickets at the Bugti Stadium in Quetta. Ahsan Ullah and Yasir both took three wickets as Loralai-Zhob restricted their opponents to 137, which they chased down in the 41st over, courtesy of Mohammad Siddique’s 59-run knock.

In Central Punjab, Lahore Division were victorious over Faisalabad Division at the Pak Lions Cricket Ground in Lahore. Moiz Rana’s blistering 76 runs off 43 balls helped Lahore to reach a total of 181 and Faisalabad fell 21 runs short as Mohammad Maooz got three wickets.

In the Khyber Pakhtynkhwa, Hazara-Mardan brushed aside Peshawar-Kohat by 62 runs at the KMC Ground in Peshawar. Peshawar were skittled out for 82 in only 25 overs while chasing 144. Mohammad Zubair bagged four wickets while fellow left-arm spinner Shahid Khan took three.

Aman Aftad led the AJK division to a thumping victory over Gilgit-Baltistan in the Northern Cricket Association tournament. Aftab took four wickets in 2.4 overs only while giving away seven runs in Islamabad as Gilgit-Baltistan were shot down for 99. AJK won the match comfartably by 10 wickets.

In Sindh, Benazirabad-MirpurKhas’ Arbaz Khan scored an unbeaten 117 and Shahzaib Aziz took four wickets to lead their team to an eight-wicket victory over Karachi Division at the Oval Ground of the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi. Arbaz smashed 14 boundaries and three maximums while chasing the target of 225.

The final of the Southern Punjab-leg will be played between Multan Division and D.G Khan Division at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Published in Dawn,June 17th, 2022