Sargodha beat Layyah in final of Lahore Qalandars’ Jazz Rising Stars tournament

KARACHI: A dazzling batting display by young Mohammad Naved led Sargodha to win Lahore Qalandars’ Jazz Rising Stars tournament with a smooth six-wickets win over Layyah.

Naved smashed four boundaries and one shot over the fence to score a match-winning 67 off 61 deliveries to guide his team to an epic win with 9 balls remaining.

Earlier, Layyah scored 148 for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs after they were asked to bat first by Sargodha who won the toss in front of a big crowd at Lahore’s Ghaddafi stadium.

Waqar Hussain and Sikandar Khan added 98 runs for the second wicket after Layyah lost first wicket with only 18 runs on the board.

Sikandar stroked six boundaries and smashed one six to score 43 off 41 deliveries while Waqar scored 57 off 47 with the help of one sixer and six fours.

Following wickets of Sikandar and Waqar, Layyah’s middle order batting collapsed and the team was restricted to 148 for the loss of 8 wickets. Raja Farzan got three wickets while Mamoon Riaz dismissed two Layyah batsmen.

The target of 149 didn’t look a difficult one for Sargodha.

Openers Mohammad Faiq and Mohammad Naved scored 61 runs for the first wicket to provide Sargodha a solid start. Naved scored 67 off 61 while Faiq faced 20 deliveries to score 21 with the help of three boundaries.

Middle order batsman Nisar Afridi finished the match in 19th over, hitting two boundaries and a six towards the end. He remained not-out with 16 of 7 deliveries.

With the six wickets win over Layyah Rising Stars, the Sargodha Rising Stars are the new champions of Lahore Qalandars Jazz Rising Stars tournament.