Gaziani Sports on the back of an excellent run of form came up against Alliance Sports in the Final of the Challengers FC Cup.
Aliiance Sports batted first but were dealt an early set back as Riaz got Adeel out for only 3. Humyaun and Khurram Rangila tried to rebuild the innings but Humayun and Saad's departures for 10 and 6 respectively set Alliance back further. Khurram along with Israr played a steady hand but the initial fall of wickets meant they had to go at less than a run a ball. Khurram evenutally lost his wicket for 33 off 43 while Israr along with Faisal ensured their team hopped over the 120 mark to add decency to the total. Rafay Malik picked up three key scalps to restrict Alliance to only 129 for 5 in their 20 overs.
The game seemed one sided at the half way mark but Alliance had other ideas. Adeel Khan and Riaz both fell cheaply on a pitch that was becoming more and more tricky with every passing minute.Saad Shah (27) and Yasir Tanveer (38) bought Ghaziani within striking distance but then got out. That started a slide that nearly knocked Ghaziani out. Ahmed Moten picked up three quick wicket before Rafay returned with bat in hand this time to strike the winning boundary with only two wickets to spare. The relief on the Ghaziani faces during the presentation ceremony showed how close they believed they had come to throwing the game away.
