LAHORE – Muhammad Waqas’ brilliant batting display steered Ludhiana Cricket Club to a convincing 23-run victory over Apollo Club in the fifth match of the 20-K Cup 2023 T20 Cricket Tournament here at the Model Town Greens ground on Sunday.
Apollo Club won the toss and asked Ludhiana Club to bat first. Ludhiana Club batters batted aggressively and posted a huge total of 168 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Muhammad Waqas was hero of the day with his superb batting display as he played 53 balls to hammer impressive 89 runs which included ten boundaries and five maximums.
Waqas teammates Asim Ali Nasir (17), Zeeshan Khan (15) and Muhammad Usama (15) also batted well and contributed significant runs in the total, making it a decent one. Asad Rafique took two wickets for Apollo Club while Nisar Ahmad, Afaq Khan, M Rameez and Abyaz Rizvi got one wicket apiece.
Apollo Club though started their run-chase well but their middle order failed to contribute well and despite some serious efforts from the lower order, they couldn’t reach the target, thus scoring only 145 runs for the loss of 8 wickets and losing the match by 23 runs. Hashim Ibrahim top-scored with 29 runs while M Akhlaq scored 21 and Asad Rafique unbeaten 20 runs. Fahad Munir and Danish Mushtaq bagged two wickets each for Ludhiana Club.
For his outstanding batting display, Muhammad Waqas of Ludhiana Club was declared player of the match. On Monday (January 9, 2023), three matches will be played. Cricket Center will take on Model Town Whites, Model Town Club will play against Prince Club while Township Whites will compete against Lucky Star Club. All the matches will start at 11:00 am.
