Crown Steel Engineering lifted the Usman Gems Cup after defeating My Care & Hala by 18 runs in the final of the WPCA Summer League which was sponsored by Usman Gems. This was the third consecutive win for Crown Steel winning all the tournaments in the Level 1 Premier Division and the fifth time in succession to remain champion. Crown Steel opted to bat first and its captain Shafiq showed fabulous form by hammering 76 in 42 balls with 11 fours and a six. He added 83 runs in 7 overs along with Babar who made 20 to lay solid foundation for a big total. Later Hammad with 3 sixes and a four made 37 in 17 balls and Shoaib scored 29 off 17 balls. Abid hit 20 to rack up 212-7 in the allotted 20 overs. Teenager Fahim again bowled his heart out to take the wickets of Babar, Hammad, Imran Nasir and Ahsaan for a tally of 4-35. Khurram took 1-31, Shahbaz 1-34 and Arshad 1-36. My Care & Hala, chasing this huge total requiring 10.65 runs per over, was in trouble when its ace batsman Kashif departed for nought off first ball. However, under pressure captain Nadeem Amin played a gem of an innings of 67 in 40 balls with 9 fours and two sixes. He added 83 valuable runs for the fifth wicket with Azeem who contributed 42 in 24 balls. Khurram made 23 off 10 balls and Shahbaz made 16. At the end of 14th over My Care & Hala was sitting pretty at 152-3 and was looking in control of the situation requiring 61 runs for victory in 6 remaining overs. But in the 15th over, once Nadeem was sent back by Man of the Match Zaheer clean bowled, Rahat resisted with 16 runs. Then it lost wickets in a heap to be 174-7 by the 17th over thus requiring 39 runs from18 balls. The 18th over saw only two runs making it 37 in 12 balls and only 4 came from 19th. It ended up 194-7 in the stipulated 20 overs to lose the final by 18 runs. Zaheer who had taken a hat trick in the Phase 2 Premier final, grabbed 3-43, Shoaib 2-27, Kamran 1-21 and Ijaz got 1-30. After the final, the prize distribution ceremony was held in the presence of the guest of honor Abdul Azeez Quraishi. pecial awards: Best batsman – Shehbaz of My Care & Hala (448 runs ), best bowler – Nasir of AOT Sonex, best wicketkeeper – Babar of Crown Steel, man of the tournament – Kashif of My Care & Hala, man of final – Zaheer of Crown, man of the semifinal 1 – Hammad, man of the semifinal 2
