LAHORE: Three wickets each from Naqeebullah and Ibtisam Azhar led Lahore Blues to a seven-wicket win over Rawalpindi in the final of the National U-19 Cup on Thursday.
Right-arm off-spinner Ibtisam finished the tournament with 20 wickets from eight matches.
Rawalpindi opting to bat first after winning the toss, were bowled out for 142 in 44.1 overs, with Ali Mehdi top-scoring with 36. For Lahore Blues, left-arm spinner Naqeebullah and right-arm off-spinner Ibtisam took three wickets apiece for 16 and 25 runs, respectively.
In reply, Lahore Blues lost three wickets in their chase and achieved the target in 39.4 overs. Jahangir Bilal top-scored for the winning side with an unbeaten 56 off 97 balls, hitting seven fours.
Lahore Blues’ captain, Ali Hassan Baloch, who missed out on a big score in the final, was named player of the tournament and best batter for scoring 603 runs from eight matches at an average of 75.38, including three centuries and two half-centuries.
Faisalabad’s Momin Qamar was declared bowler of the tournament for his 22 wickets in eight matches. The left-arm spinner had two five-wicket hauls to his name.
Lahore Blues’s Naqeebullah was declared player of the match while Ali Hassan Baloch of Lahore Blues was declared player of the tournament.
Scores in brief:
Rawalpindi 142 all out, 44.1 overs (Ali Mehdi 36; Naqeebullah 3-16, Ibtisam Azhar 3-25);
Lahore Blues 143-3, 39.4 overs (Jahangir Bilal 56 not out, Khizer Butt 46).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.