Sports: Cricket: Rehman Foundation, SBP win in cricket tourney

Karachi:Rehman Foundation had the taste of victory in their last group game, beating the formidable Santex Group while State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced their arrival with a convincing triumph in Naya Nazimabad Ramzan Cup 2019 here at Naya Nazimabad Cricket Ground.

In the first Group-C clash, Rehman Foundation started off well as openers Tariq Nawaz and Shahbaz Javed laid a 63-run partnership but the first wicket of Shahzeb Javed (36) triggered the downfall.

The other opener Tariq Nawaz (31) and Yawar Bashir (17) contributed significantly while no other Rehman Foundation’s batsmen reached double figures. Rehman Foundation managed to post 124 runs on the board before getting dismissed in the last over. Waseem Ali bagged four wickets while Mohammad Taha picked three wickets.

Chasing the seemingly comfortable target, Santex Group got a blow on the very first ball when Manzoor Ahmed rattled the stumps and sent Ammad Alam back to the dugout, which turned out to be the beginning of the end as Santex Group lost five wickets for just 37 runs.

Kamran Ashraf and Rizwan Ali tried to repair the damage but as soon as the partnership ended on 104, Rehman Foundation took charge of the game once again. Man of the match, Manzoor Khan took three wickets and Santex Group managed to score 119 for 9 with only two double-figure contributions of 39 and 24 by Rizwan Ali and Farhan Ashraf respectively.

The second match too was dominated by bowlers, led by State Bank of Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Usman Afridi who dismissed half of the Alamgir Gymkhana’s side.

With superb figures of five wickets for 10 runs, Afridi squeezed Alamgir Gymkhana to just 86 runs.

SBP’s opener Mukhtar Ahmed started the innings with an aggressive approach and carried on till the end despite two of his partners perished. Mukhtar and Rohail Nazeer were not-out on 34 and 16 respectively when SBP overhauled the target in the 8th over for the loss of two wickets only.