Rising Stars tournament: Rawalpindi, Sargodha qualify for semi-final

KARACHI: The Rising Stars from Rawalpindi and Sargodha have qualified for semi-finals of the second tournament Lahore Qalandars Jazz Rising Stars after winning two consecutive games in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday.

The first match on day two of the tournaments was played between Sargodha Rising Stars and Muzaffarabad Rising Stars at the picturesque stadium of the city.

After being invited to bat first, Muzaffarabad scored 133 with the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs.

Muhammad Mubashar smashed three sixes and stroked four boundaries to score 56 off 57 deliveries. Mubashar, along with Malik Aswad, added 83 runs for the second wicket after the hosts lost their first wicket on the first ball of the match.

Muhammad Shahzeb took four wickets, conceding 22 runs, for Sargodha.

In reply, Sargodha reached the target for the loss of six wickets with two deliveries remaining. But it was not an easy sail for them.

Sargodha lost five wickets for 96 runs, but Haider Ali remained defiant and finished the match for his team. He scored 63 off 31 balls, smashing five sixes and four fours.

In the second match of the day, Rawalpindi outclassed Gujranwala by 29 runs, thanks to an unbeaten 73 by Zeeshan Malik.

Rawalpindi scored 147 with the loss of one wicket in 20 overs after winning the toss. Zeeshan scored 73 off 65 deliveries, smashing two sixes and eight boundaries. Kamran Ghulam scored 55 off 42.

The duo of Kamran and Zeeshan added an unbeaten 121 runs for the second wicket.

In response, Gujranwala was bowled out for 118 runs, as Zubair Khan and Shahzeb Bhatti got three wickets apiece.

Abdul Rehman was only Gujranwala batsman who could show some resistance. He scored 44 off 39, but did not get enough support from other batsmen of the team that fell 29 runs short of the required target.