National Amateur Cup – Third Week Roundup

Pakistan’s biggest amateur competition, National Amateur Corporate T20 Cup 2019-20 is in full swing. The third week was another roller coaster ride for the cricket fanatics. Total 18 matches were played over the weekend in Islamabad and Lahore.

Here’s a brief overview of the third week.

NAC – ISLAMABAD

The highest-scoring match of the Islamabad phase was between Islamabad Doosras and Islamabad Knights in which Islamabad Doosras, batting first scored 176 runs. Edward Michael played a fine knock of 72 runs to help his side post a defendable total. Man of the match Mohammad Fayyad then showed his class and bagged 4 crucial wickets for just 12 runs and sent almost half of the Islamabad Knights back to pavilion giving Doosras a comprehensive win by 72 runs.

Dada CC couldn’t continue their winning spree as they lost to Klicks by 44 runs. Man of the match Faheem Butt quick fired 41 runs down the order, picked up 3 wickets for his side Klicks and contributed in the victory. Sportsfever360 was also unlucky to not keep up the winning streak. After two close wins, this team lost to Islamabad Ryders by 16 runs. All-rounder Mohammad Majid was named man of the match for his 39 valuable 39 runs and 4 wickets.

In some other matches, Korneez Eagles emerged victorious over Spartans courtesy man of the match Mahir Rehman’s fiery 56 runs. Blackhawks won by 3 runs over Web Doc in a close match. Player of the match Saif Nadeem through his tight bowling restricted the opposition to win the match.

Isloo Smashers smashed United XI in a low scoring encounter and won the match by 3 wickets. In another low scoring encounter, Eagle Star emerged victorious over Rebels. Manna Abbasi top scored with 74 runs and guided his side to victory. Bronite Thunders defeated Fighters by 20 runs courtesy destructive bowling from Safeer ud Din who picked up 4 key scalps.

NAC – LAHORE

Lahore phase was quite an interesting one. Two of the eight matches were high scoring and one-sided ones. Engine thrashed Nespak by 102 runs to win the match. Batting first, engine scored 215 runs with the aid of man of the match Saad bin Tahir’s scintillating knock of 92 runs. In return, Nespak were sent back to pavilion for just 113 runs. Wasif Zia was the star bowler who picked up 4 wickets.

In another one-sided match, IPC posted a massive total of 205 runs on board which turned out to be an impossible task for Berger Paints. Waheed Anwar hammered 68 runs to help his team post a massive total. He was later named player of the match for his heroics. Berger Paints had no answer to Zahid ul Hassan’s magical bowling who sent half of the team back to the pavilion. IPC comfortably won the match by 128 runs as Berger Paints got all-out for only 77 runs.

The low scoring encounter of week 3 was played between Ibex and Enter. Ibex, batting first could not reach triple figure and got all-out on 88 runs. Enter took control of the match right from the beginning and ended the match with a win. Man of the match Abdul Saboor Khwaja picked up 3 crucial wickets for 9 runs in his 3 overs spell.

Fatima Group was unable to continue their winning spree as they lost to Motorway Police. Syed Tabraiz Gillani’s 53 runs went in vain as his side Fatima Group returned back to pavilion for 112 runs. Man of the match Mohammad Usman’s 82* runs knock guided his side Motorway Police to victory by 7 wickets. DPS emerged victorious over Unifoam Shaheen. Player of the match Imtiaz Anwer stared with match-winning 57 runs.

Another low scoring encounter was played between Zameen.com and Nestle in which Nestle won by 10 runs courtesy player of the match Naveed Zafar’s blistering 42 runs knock. Man of the match Yousaf Iftikhar’s 54* runs knock helped his side Meezan Bank achieve a low score of 125 runs to win the match against Jazz by 8 wickets. Descon also won the match by 8 wickets against Wateen. Player of the match Mujahid Ali smashed unbeaten 59 runs to take his team Descon over the line.

NAC – FCL – LAHORE

Two FCL matches were played on Sunday. In the first match of the day, Scoring Willows played Legionaries. Batting first, Legionaries scored 135 runs which Scoring Willows successfully chased on the first ball of 12^th over. Amir Riaz (53*) and man of the match Jamshaid Ali (76*) achieved the target for first wicket partnership.

In the second match, AC All Star outclassed Knight Riders and won the match by 6 runs. Ijaz Ahmed (63*) and Mohammad Omar Saeed (40*) quick fired down the order and helped their side post 167 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Knight Riders in the chase only managed to score 161 runs from the given overs. Man of the match Abdul Rehman picked up 5 wickets.