KARACHI: Qasmi Gymkhana’s aspirations of fulfilling their dream of winning the 33rd Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Cricket Festival for the Omar Associates Trophy ended a heartbreaking three-run defeat in the final here on Wednesday, while leaving Omar CC lifting the title.

Needing four off the last ball of a pulsating title-decider against Omar CC’s discarded Pakistan pace-bowling all-rounder Anwar Ali, Qasmi Gymkhana’s tailender Wasim Ali failed to get any connection as the underdogs finished their innings at 176-8 while chasing 180.

Earlier, Omar CC lost Umar Akmal cheaply for four on the second ball of the match after Qasmi Gymkhana skipper Abid Qasmi chose to field first.

Ahsan Ali (44 off 25 balls) and Rameez Raja (44 off 21) put on 81 for the second wicket while Danish Aziz hit 43 off 35 balls. Hasan Sardar snared 3-18.

Summarised scores:

OMAR CC 179-9 in 20 overs (Ahsan Ali 44, Rameez Raja 44, Danish Aziz 43; Hasan Sardar 3-18, Kamran Hussain 2-26, Wasim Ali 2-41, Abid Qasmi 1-31); QASMI GYMKHANA 176-8 in 20 overs (Kamran Hussain 41, Riaz Mirani 35, Shafqatullah 30, Faizan Ahmed 25; Mohammad Asghar 3-18, Zafar Gohar 2-37, Anwar Ali 2-43).

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2018