Omar Cricket Club edge out Qasmi Gymkhana to regain KG title

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Omar Cricket Club regained the title by edging out Qasmi Gymkhana by three runs in a thrilling final of the 33rd Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival Twenty20 Cricket Tournament 2018 for the Omar Associates Trophy at the Karachi Gymkhana Cricket Ground on June 13.

It was in the fitness of things that the title clash turned out to be the most exciting of all 31 matches of the tournament. With four runs needed on the last ball it was anybody�s game until the very end. 

Omar CC, fielding with 10 men only, controlled its nerves better to be the deserved winners of the trophy. 

The champions, Omar CC, felt hard done, however, at the controversial decision of the umpires, Riazuddin and Muhammad Shakil, for not having allowed them a substitute fielder in place of Umar Akmal and they had to field with 10 men for the better part of their opponents� innings.

Put into bat, Omar CC had to be content with a total of 179 for nine in the allotted 20 overs. Fine knocks from opener Ahsan Ali (44 off 25 balls), Rameez Raja (44 off 21 balls) and Danish Aziz (45 off 35 balls) allowed them to reach 110 at the halfway stage but they were unable to make the most of it. 

Qasmi Gymkhana fought back through the spin duo of Hasan Sardar (3-18) and Wasim Ali (2-41) with medium-pacer Kamran Hussain (2-26) also bowling well to limit the damage.

Set to score 180 in 20 overs, Qasmi Gymkhana got off to a sluggish start, scoring 70 in the first 10 overs and losing four wickets. But breezy knocks from Kamran Hussain (41 off 21 balls) and Faizan Ahmed (25 off 13 balls) opened up the game ensuring a tight finish. 

Left-arm spinners Muhammad Asghar (3-18), named Man of the Match, and Irfan Gohar (3-37) played the lead role in restricting Qasmi Gymkhana to 176 for eight off 20 overs. 

Nadeem Omar, President, Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), who was the chief guest in the prize distribution ceremony, presented the winners� trophy to the Omar CC skipper, Saad Nasim, alongwith a purse of Rupees eight lacs while a cheque of Rupees four lacs was collected with the runners-up trophy by the Qasmi Gymkhana captain, Abid Qasmi.

Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, former Chief Executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman, Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), and Mazhar Iqbal Puri, President, Karachi Gymkhana, were also present in the ceremony. 

Usman Khan of Omar CC was declared Man of the Tournament while Bilal Irshad (Qasmi Gymkhana), Faraz Ahmed Khan (Omar CC), Rameez Raja (Omar CC) and Hasan Mustafa (Qasmi Gykhahana) were adjudged as best batsman, bowler, fielder and wicketkeeper respectively. 

The total prize money of the tournament, sponsored by Omar Associates (Pvt) Ltd for the sixth year running with Agha Steel Industries, Acme Technologies and Zaraiz Atelier being the co-sponsors, was well over Rs 16 lacs which included individual awards of Rs 313,000.

KG sports officials hurt media, Omar CC win opener

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The unprofessional attitude of the sports department of Karachi Gymkhana created problems in disseminating details of the 31st Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival Twenty20 Cricket Tournament 2016, being played for the Omar Associates Trophy, which got underway on June 7. 

It had been the practice for the last many years to make the details available to the media, through electronic or digital means, as soon as the game was over much before Iftar time.

But that wasn�t the case this time round and it took the organizers nearly a couple of hours to transmit scorecard of the opening match. It was also surprising to find that neither the umpires nor the official scorer, who did the duties, had a copy of the match scoreboard. 

In the interim period, efforts were made to contact the Sports Manager of the Karachi Gymkhana but he remained inaccessible with his cell phone being continuously powered off just as it was on the evening when the draws of the tournament were taken out, resulting in inconvenience to the covering journalists. 

One of the reasons of the inaccessibility of the sports department officials was stated to be the location of their office which is housed in the basement of the club. It�s a food of thought for the club management to look into and find a solution. 

Meanwhile left-arm spinner Fawad Khan and wicketkeeper-opener Usman Khan powered Omar Cricket Club to a crucial six-wicket victory over Medicam XI in the opening match of the Omar Associates Trophy at the Karachi Gymkhana Cricket Ground on the opening day. 

Medicam XI, whose skipper Khalid Latif opted to bat after calling correctly, was bowled out for 156 on the final ball of their innings. Looking set for an imposing total after the cameo from Tasawwar Abbas (44 off 19 balls), they lost their last six wickets for only 27 runs with Fawad Khan (3-17) doing the damage. 

The 69-run opening partnership in eight overs between Usman Khan (48 off 35 balls) and Noman Anwar (31 off 24 balls) put Omar CC in a commanding position and the momentum was sustained by Mohammad Waqas and Akbar-ur-Rahman who scored 24 each. 

The clinical batting performance kept Omar CC ahead of the clock and they duly reached the target in the final over with six wickets in hand. Fawad Khan was adjudged Man of the Match for this three-wicket haul.