Mardan beat Kohat in NBP Inter Regional Girls Cricket opener

PESHAWAR—District Mardan defeated Kohat by 64 runs in the opening match of the NBP Inter-Regional Girls Cricket Championship, which got under way here at Lady Griffith High School Peshawar ground on Tuesday.
Nazneen Zaka Regional HR Chief National Bank of Pakistan was the chief guest on this occasion and formally inaugurated the Championship. Directress Women Sports Board NWFP Rashida Ghaznavi, Principal of the School Naheed Begum and large number of female game’s enthusiasts were also present.
Seven regional teams comprising of Abbottabad, Swat, Mardan, Nowshera, Kohat, Bannu and host Peshawar are taking part in the Championship played on knock-out basis. Earlier, skipper of Kohat Afseen won the toss and elected to field first. Mardan while batting first setup 143 runs for the loss of six wickets.
Opener Asia Noor and Asma Tehseen hammered cracking runs against Kohat bowlers. Asia Noor scored 43 runs and Asma Tehseen made 33. Sameena (12), Neelam and Shahzadi made 10 score each.
For Kohat Farah, Javeria and Lubna got two wickets each. In reply, District Kohat bundled out for just 79 runs after playing 20.2 overs of the allotted 25 overs match. Only Shandana Fazal (22), Alia (14) and Irum (11) were the high runs contributors none of the other Kohat’s batter cross the double figures.
For Mardan Asia Noor grabbed six wickets, Asma Tehseen got three wickets and thus both Asma and Asia gave no time to Kohat batter to settle down. Farzana and Maria Shamim Jan supervised the match.
Speaking on the occasion, Nazneen Zaka said NBP is also supporting female sports activities and holding female cricket activities in NWFP is the beginning of a new era. She said they would continue all out support in other female games. She announced that tournament would be a regular feature.—Agencies