KARACHI: Scintillating knocks from opener Ijaz Ali Shah and Nadeem Javed helped Rangoonwala easily defeat Eaton CC by six wickets to lift the Orchid School Royal Premier League crown in a lopsided final at the RLCA Gulberg Ground here on Friday.

After opting to bat first, Eaton C posted 158-7 in their stipulated 20 overs with opener Ashir Ahmed blasting a quickfire 42 off only 21 deliveries with six boundaries and one six, while wicket-keeper Anop Ravi struck a 38-ball 43 with the aid of just two fours.

Rangoonwala, in reply, cruised to victory with four full overs to spare. Man-of-the-match Ijaz anchored the chase with a magnificent unbeaten 83 as the right-hander slammed 10 fours and hoisted five sixes in his man-of-the-match 44-ball effort.

Nadeem, who outscored Ijaz during their 69-run partnership for the second wicket, bludgeoned five huge sixes and four fours in a 28-ball 49.

Chief guest Junaid Khalil Nanitalwala, owner of Orchid School, later awarded the winners’ trophy and a purse of Rs100,000 to Rangoonwala skipper Touheed Khan, while Eaton captain Fahad Anjum received Rs40,000 and the runners-up trophy from former first-class wicket-keeper Zaheer Ahmed Sheikh, who is the founder of Royal Cricket League.

Fouz-ul-Hasan won the player-of-the-tournament for scoring 205 runs and taking seven wickets, Ijaz was adjudged best batsman for his tally of 160 runs while Fahad Anjum (seven wickets) was the best bowler of the competition.

Zubair Sheikh was lauded by the chief guest for organising the event in a befitting manner.

Summarised scores:

EATON CC 158-7 in 20 overs (Anop Ravi 43, Ashir Ahmed 43, Rao Waqar 20, Fahad Iqbal 19, Shafqat Ali 18); RANGOONWALA 159-4 in 16 overs (Ijaz Ali Shah 83 not out, Nadeem Javed 49; Gul Zaman 2-7).

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2018