Asif Memorial clinches Inter-District Club C’ship

ISLAMABAD—Asif Memorial recorded a nail-biting three-run victory against Diamond Club in the final of NBP-ICA Inter-District Club Championship here at the Diamond Cricket Ground Saturday.
Diamond Club almost clinched the final before they were bowled out for 199 in 39.2 overs after Asif Memorial had posted 202 for nine off their allotted 40 overs. Diamond made a rousing comeback through half-century maker Sajid Ali (76 off 88 balls) after they struggled at 125-7 by the end of 25th over. The host team’s tailenders could not finish off the match as No 11 batsman Syed Usman was run out with Diamond needing three runs off the last four deliveries.
Leg-spinner and captain of Asif Memorial Raheel Majeed chipped in with five wickets for 39 runs and also brought up a splendid run out of final’s top scorer Sajid. Earlier, Asif Memorial’s total revolved around two solid knocks of Muhammad Shahzad (45) and Qamar Jabbar (40). Off-spinners Muhammad Nadeem and Usman Mehmood with two wickets each were the main wicket-takers for Diamond Club. Mian Moinuddin Kakakhel, member engineering Capital Development Authority (CDA), was the chief guest on the occasion and later handed the trophy and the winner’s purse of Rs20,000 to Asif Memorial skipper.
Moinuddin said that CDA was committed in developing playing grounds in Islamabad - particularly cricket grounds. “You are the future players of Pakistan team and we will do our best in providing best available playing facilities in the capital,” Moinuddin promised. The chief guest congratulated both teams for playing the final of the tournament in which 36 clubs from Islamabad and 10 clubs from Gujrat, Northern Areas and Kashmir also participated.
“Winning and losing doesn’t matter as long as the game is played in its true spirit,” the chief guest said. Shakil Shaikh, president Islamabad Cricket Association, appreciated the efforts of National Bank of Pakistan management for sponsoring the tournament. He specially thanked NBP Chairman Ali Raza and incharge sports NBP former Test cricketer Iqbal Qasim for supporting inter-district club tournament in the federal capital.
Ghulam Akbar, sports consultant NBP Karachi, former test cricketer and match referee Anwar Khan, representative of NBP Junaid Shafique and president Asif Memorial Club Abrar Rizvi were also present at the prize distribution ceremony.—Online