The semi-final stage has approached in the Floodlit Cricket Tournament in progress at the Royal Palm Golf Club, duly supported by Wing Chair, FR Cables and Coke, after three days of intense competitive activity which included all the ingredients that are normally associated with this wonderful game. Ample were the close finishes, the fielding admirable with no missed catches, remarkable was the bowling and more than plentiful was some huge hitting that won instant applause from the large number of families present, in particular the ladies who seemed to be well aware of the finer points of the game.
The most exciting quarter-final was between Royal Vikings and Wing Chair Kings, a match that Royal Vikings won although the losing teams Mansoor Hamza earned accolades for his excellent bowling by doing a double hat trick. Mansoor is a medium pacer who can bowl the rising ball with a lot of venom and the fearsome effect prevented a contact between the bat and the ball although the batsmen were skilled enough. However the disturbing aspect from his point of view was that he was called in to bowl the last over and prior to that the opponent team had scored enough runs to see them through to the next round.
In the other quarterfinals, Indus Warriors beat Indus Chargers by 39 runs, thanks to some stunning hitting by Muhammed Asad who hit six sixes delighting the packed gallery. Lahore Lions, a strong outfit crushed Lahore Bashers, winning by 5 wickets and Punjab Stunners beat Royal Titans by 12 runs.
The semi-finals will be a contest of seasoned ones between Indus Warriors and Punjab Stunners and Royal Vikings versus Lahore Lions. The winning team of the championship will win a lucratve cash prize of Rs 150,000.