Karachi: Kamran Public School cruised into the final of 9thPVCA-EBM Inter-School Cricket Tournament 2018 as they knocked over defending champions Fahad Academy by 33 runs in the second semifinal here at the Eastern Star Ground the other day.
Kamran Public School will now be taking on Al Fatima Academy in the final to be held here at the National Stadium on December 30. The tournament is being organized by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) and sponsored by English Biscuit Manufacturers (Pvt.) Ltd. Skipper Hasan Jafri’s fine all-round performance, played the key role in Kamran Public School’s memorable victory against their robust opponents who had edged them out in the semifinals of the last edition of the tournament a couple of years ago.
Batting first, Kamran Public School was all out for 219 in 38.4 overs. They were helped by the massive contribution of 56 extras, which included as many as 40 wides. This turned out to be the difference between the two evenly matched sides in the end.Zeeshan Khalid (39 off 61 balls), Abdul Rahman (27 off 44 balls), Hasan Jafri (25 off 34 balls) and Sikandar Hasan (24 off 24 balls) were the leading scorers for Kamran Public School whose batsmen were not allowed to convert their starts to something big. Left-arm medium-pacer Haider Alam (3-55) was the most successful among the Fahad Academy bowlers with leg-spinner Danish Afridi (2-5) and left-arm spinner Muhammad Shahzad (2-27) also picking up useful wickets.
The target of 220 off 40 overs looked gettable for the defending champions and they inched closer to it with a breezy 50-run opening partnership in just five and a half overs between Mahmood Shah and Danish Afridi. The momentum of the game changed with the exit of Danish Afridi whose 31 came off mere 20 balls as he blasted a six and five fours in his cameo. Mahmood Shah fought a lone battle against the spirited bowling attack but wickets fell at regular intervals to keep the contest alive. The screws were tightened by Kamran Public School’s spin trio of Muhammad Ovais (2-18), Rashid Ghani (2-22) and Hasan Jafri (2-29) and the match was virtually in their bag when opener Mahmood Shah was the seventh batsman to be dismissed at the total of 160, after having scored a brilliant 94 off 102 balls which contained two sixes and nine fours which also earned him Man of the Match award.
Fahad Academy was dethroned of the title when they were bowled out for 186 in the 38th over, 34 runs short of their target.