Daily Times

LAHORE: Ludhiana Gymkhana Club won the 20-K Cup T20 Cricket Tournament after defeating Cricket Center Club by 47 runs in the final played at Model Town Greens Ground here on Saturday. Dawood Barry, President Managing Committee of Cooperative Model Town Society, along with Nabeel Ahmad, sponsor and patron of the 20-K Cup 2023, graced the prize distribution ceremony as chief guests and distributed prizes among the winners and top performers in the presence of galaxy of former Test cricketers Misbahul Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Aizaz Cheema, Muhammad Ilyas as well as Muhammad Mushtaq, Shoaib Dar, Wahab Dar, Bilal Javaid, Kashif Butt, Farhan Nisar and others.

Ludhiana Gymkhana were off to flying start as they stitched some good partnerships to pile up a decent total of 163 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Asim Ali Nasir was the hero of the match as he played a sensational knock of 54 runs off 35 balls that included a good number of boundaries and sixes. The other key contributors from the winning team, who batted with authority and struck significant runs were Muhammad Waqas, hammered 48-ball 53 runs, and Fahad Munir, who slammed 27 runs. Muhammad Ali bowled well for Cricket Center and bagged two wickets for 32 runs while Usama Mir got one wicket.

Cricket Center couldn’t chase the required target because of some irresponsible batting displays by their players, who also failed to create a big partnership, that might save their sinking ship. The losing side could score just 116 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs. Bilawal Iqbal was top scorer from Cricket Center as he scored 32 runs off 27 balls while Ali Zafar played 26 balls to gather only 18 runs. No other batters could add significant runs in their team’s total, which lost the final by 47 runs. Kashif Saddiuqe bowled well and clinched three wickets for 12 runs while Muhammad Junaid grabbed three wickets for 31 and Intasar Ali got one wicket. Asim Ali Nasir emerged as player of the final. Speaking on the occasion, Nabeel Ahmad said that the purpose of conducting this event, which was named after his father Col Fateh Sher Khan, was to provide the club cricketers a big platform to showcase their talent and earn big prize money.