KARACHI, May 13: KRL shocked national champions Wapda 2-0 in Tuesday’s semi-final to set up a date with Navy in the National Challenge Cup soccer final.

KRL hammered home twice in the first half to outplay Wapda at the CDGK Stadium who had been unimpressive throughout the tournament.

Like in the previous matches, Wapda kept on battling with their frail forward-line, while their defence was equally vulnerable as the losers failed to contain the KRL attacks.

KRL, who were on the attack from the beginning against a formidable but poorly performing opposition, got their reward a bit early in the opening session.

The winners opened their scoring through a 14th-minute strike when Mohammad Qasim slotted home to give Wapda the first shock.

While KRL were pressing for yet another goal, Wapda were struggling for the equaliser with moves that lacked coordination.

Still recovering from the first jolt, Wapda were rattled just seconds before the half-time whistle was blown as this time Mohammad Rasool found the cage.

The second half also saw Wapda performing below par, while KRL was being helped out by international Mohammad Essa in making dangerous moves. It was mainly Essa on whose rich international experience KRL were banking on.

And the KRL team captain was indeed a threat for the losing side as they always felt nervous whenever Essa had the possession or was fed by his team-mate for a goal.

Wapda’s Khuda Bukhsh was yellow-carded in the 56th minute for an offence as his side still struggled for the leveller which never came.

It seemed that KRL were not content with the two goals they had produced in the first half.

In a bid to make the lead unassailable, Qasim once again tested Wapda goalkeeper A. Aziz in the 80th minute, but this time he was denied by the defenders.

Yawning gaps by Wapda gave KRL yet another golden opportunity to score their third but it was squandered by a blundering Qasim.

It was in fact a brilliant three-man move generated by Essa from the centre of the field. Finding enough space to manoeuvre, Essa squared a perfect pass on to Shahid Ahmad who cleverly set up Qasim only to see him taking too long to execute and stumble near the goal before a shot wide off target.

Although KRL enjoyed smooth sailing, they received a set back when Sajjad Hussain was yellow-carded in the 84th minute for a foul and was booked for final against Navy.

In the other semi-final, Navy sank 10-man National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) 3-0 at the Peoples Sports Complex.

The bankers were shocked when the sailors moved ahead through a Mohammad Ramzan penalty kick in the 26th minute after Atiqullah charged Asif Mahmood in the box.

Navy were 2-0 up when Asif found the target in the 35th minute.

The unimpressive bankers could not control the situation mainly because of a weak defence, while Navy wrapped up proceedings with a Sajjad Ahmad strike in the 50th minute.

To make matters worse, NBP had to play with 10 men when Misbahul Hassan was given marching orders by referee Jahangir Khan after his second red card of the tournament for charging at Asif in the 55th minute.

Wapda will meet NBP in the third place playoff on Wednesday at the Peoples Sports Complex, while KRL face Navy in the final at the same venue on Thursday.