Friends XI v Vanthali Memon Association
A very important match of the 16th Challenger cup took place between Friends XI and Vanthali Memon Association at Eastern Star cricket ground. Vanthali Memon Association batted first and despite the early loss of Khurrum Wahab for 2 runs, all the other top order batsmen took responsibility and batted well to ensure their team reached a competitive 185 for 5 at the end of 20 overs. Farrukh Rangoonia was the pick of the batsmen with 51 not out off just 23 balls, while significant contributors were Aamir Majeed(49), Naveed Rangoonia (39) and Hamza Shahnawaz (30). For Friends XI, Irfanullah, Haris Iqbal and Iftikhar Chaudhry got a wicket each while there were two run outs.
In reply, Friends XI lost Tahir Iqbal for 6 and Muhammad Asher after he had scored 10 runs. However, Zohaib Ahmed with 31, Irfanullah with 32 and Qamar ud Duja with 38 brought their team close but it was Khurrum Ahmed’s cameo of 16 off 7 which took them over the line and Friends XI won this thrilling contest with 3 balls to spare and for the loss of 8 wickets. Vanthali Memon fought well and their bowlers who took wickets at regular intervals included Waqas(2 wickets), Ibrahim Farooq (2 wickets), Naveed Nagda (1 wicket), Hamza Shahnawaz(1 wicket), Hamza Vanthali (1 wicket) and Khurrum Wahab (1 wicket).
Result: Friends XI won by 2 wickets
