Standard Secondary School and Five Star School have booked their places in the semi-finals of the PCB Talent Hunt Program for School Cricket (Karachi Region) after securing decisive victories in their respective quarter-final matches on Sunday.
In the third quarter-final, Standard Secondary School defeated Beacon House School by a clear margin of 71 runs. Opting to bat first, Standard Secondary posted a strong total of 236 for 9, thanks to a splendid innings of 88 runs by Soman Kabir, which included 9 fours and 3 sixes. Muhammad Mudassir ably supported him with 75 runs, featuring 10 fours and 2 sixes, while Muhammad Asid remained not out with 24 runs. For Beacon House, leg-spinner Muhammad Mohib was the most successful bowler, taking 4 wickets for 43 runs.
In pursuit of the target, the Beacon House School team was bundled out for 165 runs. Muhammad Saad was the top scorer with 37 runs, while Muhammad Mohib made 36 and Muhammad Shahzain scored 25 runs. For Standard Secondary, Durani Khan (3 for 21) and Soman Kabir (3 for 23) took three wickets each, dismantling the opposing team’s batting line-up. Soman Kabir was declared the man of the match for his all-round performance; the award was presented to him by former first-class cricketer and coach Owais Rehmani.
In the fourth quarter-final, Five Star School defeated Ibrahim Ali Bhai School by 65 runs in a low-scoring match. Batting first, the Five Star School team was all out for 137 runs, in which Abdullah Butt played a crucial innings of 49 runs with the help of 3 fours and 5 sixes. The bowlers of Ibrahim Ali Bhai School performed well, with Muhammad Abbas (3 for 26) and Muhammad Umar (3 for 34) taking three wickets each, while Hasan Ahmed took 2 wickets for 5 runs.
In reply, the batting line-up of Ibrahim Ali Bhai School faltered, and the entire team was bowled out for just 72 runs. Muhammad Abbas was the standout with 17 runs. Shezel Farooqui played a key role in the batting collapse, taking 5 wickets for just 12 runs. Tauseef-ul-Hasan and Abdullah Butt also took two wickets each. Abdullah Butt of Five Star School was declared the man of the match; the award was presented to him by Kashif Akhtar, the Chief Headmaster of Ibrahim Ali Bhai School Orangi Town.