Kurram won the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-leg of the two-day City Cricket Association Tournament 2022-23 on first innings lead basis after their final against Nowshera ended in a draw at the Sardheri Ground, Charsadda on Friday.
Kurram successfully defended their first innings score of 260 to dismiss Nowshera for 201. When the match ended, Kurram were 176 for six in their second innings from 59 overs.
The stars of Kurram’s win were opening-batter Imran and wicketkeeper-batter Abdul Aziz as both struck half-centuries in their side’s modest 260 all out in 69 overs. In return, Kurram’s Mohammad Naeem and Mohammad Ashraf bagged three wickets apiece to bowled out Nowshera for 201 in the 48th over.
In the four-group 19-team Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-leg, Kurram topped Pool D with 13 points, while Nowshera topped Pool C with 16 points to qualify for the semi-finals. The other two teams to qualify for the semi-finals were Mardan from Pool A and Mansehra from Pool B.
The first semi-final was played between Mardan and Nowshera at the Sardheri Ground, Charsadda from 4 to 5 July. On first innings lead, Nowshera was declared the winners and hence made it to the final. In the second semi-final being staged at the Ameen Cricket Ground Shah Alam in Peshawar on same dates, Mohammad Naeem’s century and three wickets apiece by Abdur Rauf and Shahid Aziz led Kurram to first innings lead over Mansehra and helped the side to qualify for the final. The two-day match ended in a draw.
Nowshera’s Gohar Ali topped the batting charts with 513 runs from six outings in the tournament. The right-handed batter struck one century and four half-centuries. Second on the batting chart was D.I Khan’s Mohammad Usman who scored 466 from four matches at 93.20. The right-handed batter struck two centuries and three half-centuries.
In the bowling charts, Nowshera’s Usman Tariq topped the table with 34 wickets from six matches with two five-for in an innings. Mansehra’s Sher Badshah bagged 21 wickets from five outings in the tournament.
The winners from other five City Cricket Associations will be announced later this month.
Scores in brief:
Final
Result – Match drawn (Kurram won the final on first innings lead)
Kurram 260 all out, 69 overs (Abdul Aziz 63, Imran 60, Mohammad Naeem 37; Syed Sanan 3-60, Muazam Umer 2-26, Sarmad Khttak 2-53) and 176-6, 59 overs (Mohammad Rehman 53 not out, Wahid Zaman 50; Muazam Umer 2-28, Usman Tariq 2-44)
Nowshera 201 all out, 47.2 overs (Gohar Ali 63, Muawiya Bin Asad 56; Mohammad Ashraf 3-46, Mohammad Naeem 3-61, Abdur Rauf 2-37)
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