The first two rounds of the President’s trophy Grade I first class cricket tournament in Pakistan have belonged to the players from Karachi. Playing for different departments, these players have given match saving and match winning performances with both bat and ball to start the season strongly.
Muhammad Taha scores big runs
Pakistan Television batsman Muhammad Taha has been one of the best players in the tournament so far. He is currently the second highest run scorer in the competition. Taha scored 359 runs in just two innings, only 3 runs behind Muhammad Farooq who has played four times. Taha started the tournament by scoring 134 against Oil and Gas Development Company Limited. In the second match against State Bank of Pakistan, he made a brilliant 225. This big score was just one run short of his personal best score of 226, which he made against KRL last season. Scoring centuries in consecutive matches makes him the most dangerous batsman this year. We recently sat down with Taha for an interview, where he aimed for a spot in Pakistan team in the next 5 years. With such strong performances, he is well on track.
Rameez Aziz saves his team
State Bank of Pakistan middle order batsman Rameez Aziz showed great calm during the high scoring match against Pakistan Television. SBP was in deep trouble at 231 runs with 8 wickets down. Rameez then made a steady 120 runs to save his side. The best part of his batting was his partnership with Naqeebullah, who made 74 runs. The two players added 181 runs together for the last wicket. This massive partnership took the team total to a strong 433 before Taha started batting for PTV.
Captain Ghazi Ghori leads well
Wicketkeeper batsman Muhammad Ghazi Ghori has done an excellent job leading the State Bank of Pakistan team. In the tough drawn match against Pakistan Television, he kept his team safe by scoring fifties in both innings. He made a solid 66 in the first innings and added another important fifty plus score in the second innings, showing great responsibility as the team captain.
Danish Aziz wins the match
All rounder Danish Aziz put on a great show to help Oil and Gas Development Company Limited beat Kingsmen Academy easily. He first helped his team by scoring a brave, unbeaten 93 runs. Then he destroyed the opposition batting in the second innings with his spin bowling, taking four wickets for only seven runs. His great all round work helped his team win by nine wickets. Thanks to this performance, he is now the fifth highest wicket taker in the tournament, just two wickets behind the leader Kashif Bhatti. The great form of these Karachi players in the opening weeks of the tournament is very good news for their teams and shows the high quality of cricket talent in the region. The third round is set to start from Thursday 24 September. The players who have performed well will try their best to keep their good form going, while those who have not clicked yet will put in everything to bounce back and make an impact.
