KARACHI: Pakistan paceman Anwar Ali grabbed a three-wicket haul as Omar CC easily prevail over Touchme XI to qualify for the semi-final of the third Vital Five CC Ramazan Festival T20 cricket tournament at the Vital Five Ground on Tuesday.

Touchme XI never looked like reaching a competitive after losing half their side for 21 with Anwar dismissing Tanvir Ahmed on the very first ball of the second quarter-final after captain Khalid Latif had won the toss.

Only Moazzam Hayat (24 off 29 balls, two fours) and Sohail Khan (19 off 25) and Shahid Khan (17 off 18) were able to enter double figures as Touchme XI were dismissed for 95 midway through the penultimate over. Khalid scored just one before falling to Rumman Raees Khan.

Anwar finished with 3-20 in four overs to clinch the man-of-the-match award. Fellow seamer Rumman and the slow left-armers Zulfiqar Babar and Faraz Ahmed Khan all took two wickets apiece.

Omar CC needed just 10.4 overs to overhaul their rivals’ inadequate total with opener Rameez Raja striking four boundaries and a brace of sixes in a 20-ball 32.

Summarised scores:

TOUCHME XI 95 in 18.3 overs (Moazzam Hayat 24, Sohail Khan 19; Anwar Ali 3-20, Zulfiqar Babar 2-12, Rumman Raees Khan 2-13, Faraz Ahmed Khan 2-20); OMAR CC 96-2 in 10.4 overs (Rameez Raja 37).

Wednesday’s fixture: Vital Five CC vs Qasmi CC (third quarter-final).

Published in Dawn, July 23rd , 2014