KARACHI, Jan 16: Opener Atif Ali Zaidi slammed a fine century to lead Dawood Sports to an exciting 15-run victory over Khizra Sports in a KCCA Inter-Club League Cricket Championship match at the TMC Ground on Tuesday.

Atif cracked 10 fours in his 107 off 105 balls and Ammar Hassan got 50 with three fours and a six to steer Dawood Sports to 243-6 off the allotted 50 overs.

Khizra Sports, in response, were bowled out for 228 in 43.1 overs despite a defiant 83 by Arif Mahmood. Latif Junejo claimed four wickets for 32.

In the meantime, Al-Noor Gymkhana reached the championship semi-finals when they recorded their sixth successive win in group ‘A’, beating Nazimabad Gymkhana by 21 runs at the UBL Sports Complex ground despite a five-wicket haul by Hamid Shahid.

Noman Ikram smashed ten fours and a six in his 78 while Ehsan Jamil and Sheraz Ali grabbed three wickets apiece in Al-Noor Gymkhana’s victory.

In another match, left-arm spinner S. Farooq captured five wickets for 22 to bowl Rafiq Sherazi Memorial Cricket Club to a 96-run win over A. O. Blues Cricket Club at Pak Star Ground.

Summarised scores:

DAWOOD SPORTS 243-6 in 50 overs (Atif Ali Zaidi 107, Ammar Hassan 50, A. Jabbar 40; Arif Mahmoood 3-72); KHIZRA SPORTS 228 in 43.1 overs (Arif Mahmood 83, Arshad Azam 36, Sharjeel Ashraf 31, Ibrahim Qureshi 30; Latif Junejo 4-32, Fareeduddin 3-78, Saeed Bin Nasir 3-85).

AL-NOOR GYMKHANA 198 in 45 overs (Noman Ikram 78, Saad Umar 31, Naved Khan 27; Hamid Shahid 5-31); NAZIMABAD GYMKHANA 177 in 42.4 overs Owais Ahmed Rehmani 57, Babar Agha 29; Ehsan Jamil 3-47, Sheraz Ali 3-67).

RAFIQ SHERAZI MEMORIAL CC 226-9 in 50 overs (Imtiaz Safdar 74, Wasim Naeem 59; Iftikhar Khan 3-44, Aijaz Ahmed 2-39); A.O. BLUES 130 in 31.4 overs Aijaz Ahmed 51, S. Farooq 5-22, Israr-ul-Haq 2-33).—APP