Rising Stars tournament: Rawalpindi tops group A

KARACHI: The first phase of Lahore Qalandars’ Rising Stars tournament concluded in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir with Rawalpindi Rising Stars emerging as toppers of group A after beating Sargodha in the last group match.

Opener Zeeshan Malik smashed three sixes and stroked 14 boundaries to score 100 off 64 deliveries, the first century of the tournament.

Zeeshan’s flared innings, backed by Kamran Ghulam with 31 and Sajawal Riaz with 26, helped Rawalpindi post 185 for the loss of four wickets in the allocated twenty overs.

Sargodha, in reply, was bowled out for 147 in 17.3 overs as Rawalpindi’s Kamran Ghulam took five wickets while defending his team’s total.

The superb spell by Kamran Ghulam, former Pakistan U19 player, destroyed the middle order of Sargodha after two good partnerships. The team lost last 7 wickets for 17 runs.

In another match, the host Muzaffarabad outclassed Gujranwala by 8 wickets.

Gujranwala, after being invited to bat first by Muzaffarabad, was bowled out for 126 runs following a disciplined bowling by the hosts.

Zeeshan Farooq scored 49 off 28 deliveries, smashing three sixes, to remain the top scorer for his team. Haseeb ur Rehman added 25 while Ali Malik scored 21 runs.

In reply, an opening stand of 76 runs by Naveed Malik and Saif ur Rehman helped Muzaffarabad reach the target in 16th over and registered their first win in the tournament.

Naved Malik scored 50 off 40 deliveries while Saif scored 45 off 22.

After the conclusion of the first leg in Muzaffarabad, the second leg of the tournament will commence in Lahore from October 3 where teams of group B will compete.

CEO of Lahore Qalandars Atif Rana said he was overwhelmed to see the response of Muzaffarabad crowd.

“It was the first proper cricket tournament of this level being played in Azad Kashmir and the fans here responded well to our call,” Rana told Geo.tv

“We tried to connect Kashmir with rest of Pakistan via cricket and it was a great experience. We saw a jam-packed crowd in all three games,” he added.

Rana requested PCB to reciprocate the love Kashmiri people expressed for cricket by organising some top-level matches in the region.