FAISALABAD – Lahore and Karachi, as the top two sides with nine wins each in the double round-robin stage, have reached final of National Women’s One-Day Tournament. The arch-rivals will clash for the trophy at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on 11 May.
On Wednesday, Karachi defeated Rawalpindi by 22 runs. Omaima Sohail’s gritty half-century (67, 86b, 7x4s) led Karachi to post 167 all out in 41 overs.
Karachi’s spinners led by Omaima (4-34) played a vital role in restricting Rawalpindi to 145 all out in 49.4 overs. Maham Manzoor and Syeda Aroob Shah shared five wickets.
In a low-scoring thriller at the Iqbal Stadium, Peshawar defended their 110-run total against Multan, winning the game by a mere four runs. Peshawar’s Aleena Shah helped her team reach 110 with a dogged 40 as Multan’s Noor-ul-Iman spun a web around Peshawar batters taking five wickets for 15 runs.
In return, Multan looked comfortable with 76-2 on the board before losing eight wickets for 30 runs and falling four runs short with six balls to spare.
At Jawad Sports Complex, after opting to bat first Quetta lost wickets at regular intervals as Khadija Chishti and Arijah Haseeb top scored with 23 runs each taking their team to 105 all out in 49.1 overs. Lahore’s Noreen Yaqoob and Ayesha Bilal picked up three wickets apiece while Quratulain dismissed two batters.
In reply, Dua Majid made light work of the chase with an unbeaten half-century (52, 71b, 6x4s) stitching a 55-run opening partnership with Samiya Afsar (31, 43b, 2x4s, 1×6) and an undefeated 53-run second wicket stand with Iram Javed (20 not out, 31b, 2x4s) to seal the chase in 24 overs.