KARACHI: Defending champions University of Central Punjab produced a power-packed performance in the semifinal to send University of Peshawar packing from the Red Bull Campus Cricket 2017 while Jinnah Degree College from Karachi recorded a resounding victory over Emerson College in the tournament’s second semi-final to set up a grand final, to be played at the DHA Sports Club (Moin Khan Academy) on Saturday.

Batting first, the Peshawar side were found wanting against the probing bowling from the UCP side that restricted their opponents to a paltry first innings score of 100 for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

Amjad Afridi top-scored with 23 while Wakeel Khan contributed 21 runs. Tipu Sultan was the star of the show, returning figures of three for nine in his four overs while Aafand Mehran picked two wickets.

In reply, UCP overcame the target in 16 overs. Tayab Tahir led the chase with an attacking 45 run innings off only 35 balls; Junaid Ali scored 21 off 15 balls to ensure an easy passage to the final for his team.

In the second semifinal, Emerson College batted first to score 106 all out. Their batsmen failed to get going in their innings with only Shahid Bashir (22) and Hasan Raza with a run-a-ball 18 offering some resistance to the Jinnah Degree College bowlers. Fahad Bukhari was the wrecker-in-chief taking four wickets for the winners. He was well supported by Muhammad Salman who captured two wickets.

Jinnah Degree College went past the target in the penultimate over of the innings losing only three wickets in the process. Zubair Delawar top-scored with 44 off 39 balls while Ammad Alam scored 23. Haris Junaid bowled his heart out for Emerson College taking two wickets in his four overs quota but his effort went in vain.

Red Bull Campus Cricket is the world championship of college cricket and is an annual international T20 tournament for college cricket teams, providing a platform for young talent to play on a world stage and make their way into professional cricket without having to give up on college education. The competition was launched in 2012 and is now in its sixth year. The respective teams have each won national qualifiers to represent their countries at the World Finals.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2017