Fahad Academy storm into HBL Inter-Schools Cricket final

Pakistan News & Features Services 

Fahad Academy stormed into the final of the HBL Inter-Schools Cricket Tournament 2014 by whipping St Paul English School by 135 runs in the semifinals of the at the National Stadium, Karachi. 

Fahad Academy will now be taking on Beaconhouse School North Nazimabad in the final at the same venue. The tournament is being organized by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA). 

Put into bat, Fahad Academy posted a mammoth total of 315 for seven in the allotted 40 overs. St Paul English School was never really in the hunt after losing wickets in quick succession. They were bowled out for 180 in 34.2 overs. 

The gamble of the St Paul English School skipper, Hammad Ahmed, to insert the opponents into bat after calling correctly, backfired and runs kept coming at brisk pace from the outset in the Fahad Academy innings. 

Fahad Academy lost an early wicket but the 105-run second wicket partnership between opener Mohammad Saleem (78 off 61 balls) and Farhan Shah (71 off 65 balls) put them in a strong position. 

Saleem whacked as many as 15 boundaries besides one six in his aggressive knock while Farhan smashed 10 fours in his enterprising half century. The middle-order batsmen capitalized on the solid platform and the boundaries kept coming despite the loss of wickets. 

Umair Bin Yousuf’s superb innings of 43 off 48 balls allowed the power hitters to do the business. Zeeshan Ahmed (26 off 21 balls) and Adeel Irshad (21 off 17 balls) batted brilliantly and the late flourish was provided by Mahmood Shah who remained undefeated on 29 off 22 balls which enabled Fahad Academy to post a huge total of 315 despite fine bowling from left-arm spinner Hamza Khan (3-55) and medium-pacer Hammad Ahmed (2-47). 

The match was virtually over when St Paul English School lost four wickets before bringing up 100 of their innings. Mohammad Kashan’s 41 off 50 balls simply reduced the margin of defeat as the result was seldom in doubt with the fall of wickets which made the asking rate beyond the reach of the batting side. 

The Fahad Academy captain, Tauseef Khan, used as many as 10 bowlers, with leg-spinner Adeel Ahmed (2-27) returning the best figures. Their teammate Mohammad Saleem was declared Man of the Match for his blistering knock upfront.