Lahore, Faisalabad qualify for Qalandars tournament’s semi-final

LAHORE: Lahori Qalandars have joined Faisalabad Qalandars from group B in final four of Lahore Qalandars’ player development program tournament after a five-wicket win over Rawalpindi Qalandars on Wednesday.

Chasing a target of 165 set by Rawalpindi Qalandars, the team Lahori Qalandars was provided a good start by openers Tariq Nawaz and Bilal Irshad with 51 runs for the first wicket.

But following the run out of Tariq Nawaz, Lahori lost two more wickets in quick succession as they went from 51/0 to 60/3.

However, Hamza Nazar reconstructed the innings with the help of Asif Khan (24 off 22) and Farzan Raja (28 off 16). Hamza smashed three 6s and stroked five boundaries for his match-winning unbeaten 54 off 30.

Earlier, Rawalpindi - after winning the toss - had scored 164/9 in 20 overs. Sohail Akhtar with 44 off 25 delivers was the top scorer for Rawalpindi. Usman Khalid added 30 runs to his team’s score before left arm spinner Ahsan Mirza made Rawalpindi Qalandars struggle with his spell of 4-0-27-4.

In the first match on Wednesday, Shafqatullah and Mohammad Faizan added an unbeaten 127 runs for the second wicket partnership to help Faisalabad Qalandars beat Gujranwala Qalandars by 9 wickets and finish on the top of tables.

Shafqat scored 71 off 45 deliveries with the help of six 6s and four 4s whole Faizan smashed two sixes and stroked nine boundaries for his 68 off 57 deliveries.

The duo helped Faisalabad comfortably chase the target 160 runs with 11 balls remaining.

The semi finals of player development program will be played on Thursday. Faisalabad Qalandars will meet KP Qalandars while Lahori Qalandars will play Kashmir Qalandars.