LAHORE-Pindi Gymkhana opened their 20-K Cup 2023 T20 Cricket Tournament campaign on a winning note as they defeated hosts Model Town Greens by 19 runs in the opening match here at Model Town Greens ground on Thursday.
Pindi Gymkhana won the toss and elected to bat first. They couldn’t start well and kept on losing wickets on regular intervals but their middle order steadied their sinking ship and contributed some significant runs in their total, making it 127-9 in the allotted overs. Wasif Khan was top scorer with 21 runs while Imtiaz Ali hit 20 and Nadeem Ahmad 19. Ahmad Arif clinched 4-16 and Mirwais Khan 2-18.
In reply, Model Town Greens just fall short by 19 runs as they were bowled out on 108 in 17.4 overs. Man-of-the-match Ali Annar bowled brilliantly and grabbed 4-22 for Pindi Gymkhana, which his teammates Zaib Butt (3-21) and Asfand Mehran (2-16) also bowled well. For Model Town Greens, Bilal Dar (35), M Azeem (24) and Waris Khan (16) batted with well while no other batter could cross the double figures.
Before the inaugural match between Pindi Gymkhana and Model Town Greens, the opening ceremony of the prestigious event was held here, which was graced by Nadeem Khan, PCB Director High Performance Centre Lahore, who cut the ribbon to inaugurate the event in the presence of Test cricketer Abid Ali, former cricketer M Ilyas, Shoaib Dar and other officials and players.
Today (Friday) two matches will be played as Model Town Greens will take on P&T Gym in the first match while Cricket Center Club will play against Yu Slim Club in the second match of the day.