Barira Saif takes five-fer to help Strikers bag first win

Strikers’ Barira Saif took the first five-wicket haul of the U19 Women’s T20 tournament to help her team defeat Invincibles by seven wickets in the third round of the tournament on Friday here at the LCCA Ground, Lahore.

In the first match of the day Challengers overcame Stars by 44 runs as Aqsa Bibi’s player of the match performance (3-10) restricted Stars to 58-9 in pursuit of a 103-run target.

Batting first, Challengers posted 102-4 in the allotted 20 overs as Malaika Suhani (29, 38b, 5x4s) and Shehr Bano (20 not out, 14b, 4x4s) made valuable contributions with the bat. For Stars Adieyah Noor dismissed two batters while Lubaba Mehmood picked up one wicket.

In reply, none of the Stars’ batters entered double figures. Challengers’ skipper Aqsa Bibi led from the front with the ball taking three wickets while Aleesa Mukhtiar accounted for 2-7 in her four overs. Hadia Mina and Mahnoor Iqbal picked up one wicket each.

In the second match, after Invincibles chose to bat first, they were bundled out for a mere 28 in just 8.5 overs. Barira, who opened the bowling for Strikers, bowled four overs on the trot and returned figures of 5-13, while Mahnoor Rani picked up 3-13 in her four overs.

In turn, Strikers chased the 29-run target in 6.1 overs for the loss of three wickets. Maham Anees scored a run-a-ball 10, hitting two fours. Ifrah Mehroz took two wickets.

The fourth-round matches of the tournament will be played on Sunday, 20 October.

Scores in brief:

Match 5 - Challengers beat Stars by 44 runs

Challengers 102-4, 20 overs (Malaika Suhani 29, Shehr Bano 20 not out; Adieyah Noor 2-18)

Stars 58-9, 20 overs (Fariha Fahim Toor 8; Aqsa Bibi 3-10, Aleesa Mukhtiar 2-7)

Player of the match – Aqsa Bibi (Challengers)

Match 6 - Strikers beat Invincibles by seven wickets

Invincibles 28 all out, 8.5 overs (Dina Rizvi 5, Barira Saif 5-13, Mahnoor Rani 3-13)

Strikers 29-3, 6.1 overs (Maham Anees 10, Ifrah Mehroz 2-6)

Player of the match – Barira Saif (Strikers)