Karachi Patriots v Benitoz Panthers- Semi Final
The 2nd semi final of the KheloKricket Champions Trophy was held at Al Mansoora Ground between two strong teams Karachi Patriots and Benitoz Panthers. Karachi Patriots won the toss and decided to field first on a flat wicket, a decision which cost them as Panthers batsmen took full advantage and hit the ball to all parts of the park. Tabish Raza started off with 46 off 27 along with Madni Waqas Raja who got 25 runs off 18 balls. Ahmed Arshad was the only player not to get into double figures as he was out after having scored 9 runs but his dismissal led to an amazing display of aggressive batting as Umair Ahmed knocked a fiery 63 runs off 36 balls in an innings which included 6 fours and 2 sixes while Saad Ahmed scored 76 runs off 35 balls as he hit 5 boundaries and 5 sixes in his extraordinary innings at a strike rate of 217% as Panthers ended at 232 for 3 in 20 overs. Only Rehan, Sameer and Rizwan Diwan took a wicket for Patriots.
In reply, facing a mammoth target of 233 runs, Karachi Patriots were off to a disastrous start as Faisal Butt and Adnan Salim were removed in quick succession by Faisal Ghouri. Aamir Motiwala and Adeel Sabuwala tried to stabilize the innings but both were dismissed after having scored 23 runs each. Adeel Abbasi with 29 and Usman Yunus Ghani with 47 off 30 fought back but Patriots were never in the chase and could only get 158 for 8 in 20 overs as they were knocked out of the tournament by a dominating performance by the Panthers. For Panthers, Faisal and Umer Chawla were key with 3 wickets each while Asadullah took a wicket and there was one run out.
Benitoz Panthers now face ICT in the final on 21st of May 2017.
Benitoz Panthers won by 64 runs.
