Three wickets apiece from Ali Arshad and Huzaifa Ayub led Multan Division to a seven-wicket win over Dera Ghazi Khan in the final of the Southern Punjab-leg of the inaugural Cricket Associations Divisional U19 Tournament. The 50-over final was played at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Earlier, on Thursday, five Cricket Associations winners were decided. Loralai-Zhob Division, Lahore Division, Hazara-Mardan Division, AJK Division and Benazirabad-MirpurKhas were crowned champions in Balochistan, Central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern and Sindh jurisdictions respectively.
Southern Punjab Cricket Association
After being put into bat, D.G Khan Division were dismissed for 105 in the 41st over against Multan Division. Opening batter Hamza Nawaz top-scored with a 74-ball 36, hitting five fours. Spinners Ali and Huzaifa bagged three wickets each for 21 and 17 runs, respectively.
In reply, Multan Division successfully chased down the target in the 26th over for the loss of three wickets. Muhammad Uzair Mumtaz top-scored with 29 off 43 balls. He also topped the batting chart in the Southern Punjab-leg with 236 runs from four outings in the tournament. Hamza Nawaz from D.G Khan Division was second on the list, scoring 223 runs from three matches.
Muhammad Aqib Asghar representing Sahiwal Division bagged seven wickets from three matches. D.G Khan’s Muhammad Sheraz Khan took six wickets from three outings and Huzaifa Ayub representing Multan Division finished with five wickets from three matches.
Balochistan Cricket Association
Loralai-Zhob Division won the tournament beating Quetta-Rakshan Division by six wickets in the final held at the Bugti Stadium. Muhammad Uzair representing Quetta-Rakhshan Division scored 165 runs from four matches at 41.25. Muhammad Yousaf representing the champion team scored 161 runs from four outings in the tournament. Uzair’s teammate Yasir Khan scored 159 runs at 39.75.
Ejaz Ahmed representing Loralai-Zhob Division took 10 wickets from four matches. Naseerabad-Sibi Division’s Muhammad Qasim and Jahangir Khan Quetta-Rakhshan Division grabbed seven wickets apiece from three outings in the tournament.
Central Punjab Cricket Association
The Central Punjab-leg was won by Lahore Division as they beat Faisalabad Division by 21 runs in the final held at the Pak Lions Cricket Academy Ground in Lahore. Ali Zoraiz Asif representing Sargodha Division topped the batting chart, scoring 243 runs from three matches. Gujranwala-Sialkot Division’s Tayyab Arif scored 202 runs from three outings at 67.33. Obaid Shahid representing the champion team scored 193 runs from four matches.
Ameer Hassan representing Faisalabad Division bagged nine wickets from four matches. Muhammad Saria Khan from Sargodha Division, Ayub Khan from Gujranwala-Sialkot Division, Muhammad Maooz and Usman Shahid from Lahore Division grabbed eight wickets each.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cricket Association
Hazara-Mardan Division won the leg by beating Peshawar-Kohat Division by 62 runs at the KMC Ground in Peshawar. For the winning team Haseeb Khan and Muhammad Zulkifal played a pivotal role with the bat as both batters occupied the top two spots in the batting chart with 184 and 134 runs, respectively.
Muhammad Shoaib and Aimal Khan representing the champion team topped the bowling chart with 11 and 10 wickets, respectively. Muhammad Zubair from Peshawar-Kohat Division bagged nine wickets from four outings in the tournament.
Northern Cricket Association
AJK Division defeated Gilgit Baltistan Division by 10 wickets to clinch the title at the House of Northern in Islamabad. Rawalpindi’s Saad Masood with his all-round performance topped the batting and bowling charts. He scored 237 runs from three outings at 79 and bagged eight wickets. Faraz Khan representing AJK Division scored 187 runs from four matches. Gilgit Baltistan Division’s Husnain Nadeem scored 165 runs from four matches with two half-centuries.
AJK Division’s Abidullah grabbed eight wickets from four matches.
Sindh Cricket Association
Benazirabad-MirpurKhas beat Karachi Division by eight wickets at the Academy Oval of Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi. Mirza Saad Baig, representing Karachi Division, topped the batting chart with 268 runs from four outings at 89.33. Mohammad Arbaaz Khan and Muhammad Hassan Iqbal representing the winning team occupied the second and third spot with 208 and 166 runs, respectively.
Shahzaib Aziz representing Benazirabad-MirpurKhas topped the bowling table with nine wickets from three matches. Abdul Moeez, Mohammad Umar Sherani and Syed Tayyab Hussain representing Karachi Division, Benazirabad-MirpurKhas Division and Hyderabad Division, respectively bagged seven wickets apiece.