Day 1 of the Khelo Kricket Ramzan women’s night cricket tournament powered by Daraz kicked off with 6 teams taking the stage. Teams were divided in 2 groups of 3 teams each with the opening match between Athletic Club and Sindh Promoter Cricket Academy.
Athletic Club batted first against Sindh Promoter with Laiba Fatima’s explosive 52 off just 20 balls helping her side set a mammoth target of 112 runs in 6 overs. Areeba Hanif also chipped in with a cameo of 28 runs. Promoter bowlers struggled to pick wickets or stop the flow of runs. With target pressure from the first ball, Sindh promoters young team struggled to face defending champions Athletic Club and ended up scoring just 50 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Saman Anwar was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets. Athletic Club won by 62 runs.
Zaca women knight riders faced their first match against BSL Women scoring only 48 runs in their 6 overs. Abeera Kaleem was the only batter to get to double figures, scoring 14 runs before she was bowled by Subhana. BSL Women made easy work of the target with Subhana’s 26 off 13 getting their side to victory in just 3.5 overs.
Athletic Club batted first against Karachi Mavericks in their 2nd match of the night, putting up yet another massive target of 123 runs in their 6 overs. Rafia Adil was the only bowler to pick up a wicket in her spell of 1 for 19 runs. Areeba Hanif, Sana Urooj and Laiba Fatima all chipped in. Mavericks were outdone by an incredible display of bowling and fielding ending at 41 for 4 in 6 overs. There were 3 run outs in the side. Athletic Club won by 82 runs and qualified for the next round.
AKYSB batted first against BSL Women putting up a decent target of 52 runs in their 6 overs. Mehreen Akbar was in fine form with her 14 run cameo before she was unfortunately run out. BSL Women did well to restrict the opposition with Bisma and Mehek picking up a wicket each. In response, BSL women comfortably chased down the target in 4.4 overs with Subhana leading from the front with her 22 runs.
Karachi Mavericks batted first against Sindh Promoter in the teams’ second match of the night in what turned out to be an absolute thriller. Zaina scored 16 runs while Naweera scored 18 as Mavericks ended at a competitive 51 in 6 overs. Sindh Promoter at the end of the day won due to extras as Mavericks leaked 36 in total which helped Promoters win with 2 balls to spare. Maryama scored 11 runs.
The final match of the night was played between Zaca women and AKYSB. Abeera Kaleem, Tooba Khan and Hira helped Zaca women set a target of 60 runs in 6 overs. AKYSB bowlers did well to restrict the opposition, not giving away too many runs. Razmeena picked up a wicket and there was 1 run out. An absolutely brilliant cameo of 27 off 12 by Maleeha saw AKYSB to victory in 5.1 overs. Despite losing wickets regularly, the team held their nerve well.
BSL Women and Athletic Club are through to the next round.
