KARACHI: Two more games done and dusted at the group stage of Brighto presents Osaka Naya Nazimabad Ramzan Cup 2019 as the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Port Qasim Authority (PQA) comfortably won their games against Rehman Builders and KK Panthers respectively.
NBP opted to bat first, against Rehman Foundation, in the first match of the day and were pushed in a spot of bother by Inam Javed by dismissing captain Shaan Masood and Ahsan Ali cheaply, the experienced Kamran Akmal stood his ground and cut loose after a steady start to his innings. The test wicket-keeper batsman hammered the ball in all corners of the field, scoring 93 off 57 balls with 9 fours and 6 sixes. Kamran Ghulam’s cameo (38 off 18) in the end propelled the NBP’s final tally to 197 for 5 wickets. Ramiz Raja Jr and Umer Siddiq chipped in with 29 & 27 runs respectively.
In reply Rehman Foundation only had three notable contributions while the rest of the batting line didn’t disturb the score much. The team bundled out for 148 with Shahbaz Javed (39), Yawar Bashir (37) & Tariq Nawaz (21) were the prominent batsmen.
With the 49-run victory, the NBP got off the mark in the competition after losing to Santex Group in their first game. Kamran Akmal was declared the man of the match.
The second game of the day also turned out to be a one-sided affair as the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) came hard on a relatively inexperienced KK Partners.
Batting first the PQA took control of the proceedings from the onset. Captain Khurram Manzoor was the first wicket to fall on 60 and later the proceedings were dominated by the other opener Haris Ali Khan & M Waqas Sr who dragged the score to 142. Haris and Waqas scored 60 runs each and PQA accumulated 180 runs for 5 wickets.
The PQA continued to dominate, the game, with the ball as well and KK Panthers never recovered from frequent blows. Faraz Aziz, the number 8, showed some resilience in a lost cause, with 23 runs. KK Panthers managed to survive till the 19th over with 108 runs to their credit. Shoaib Khan, Tabish Khan, Touheed Khan and Waleed Ahmed bagged two wickets each. M Waqar Sr was declared the man of the match.
On Wednesday Rehman Foundation, Santex Group, State Bank and Alamgir Gymkhana will be seen in action.