“We will take the final as any normal match,” says Jahanzaib Sultan, Sindh U19 captain
Lahore (Pakistan Point News - 8th Nov, 2019) Northern U19 and Sindh U19 will face-off in the National U19 three-day tournament final, a four-day affair, at the Rana Naveed Cricket Academy in Sheikhupura on Saturday.
The two sides have played each other once in the round-robin stage of the tournament, which Northern won by a whopping margin of an innings and five runs on the back of Mubasir Khan’s century. For Sindh, right-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Makki was the star performer as he took five wickets for 73 runs in an innings in the match.
In their five group matches, both the teams secured two wins each. Northern topped the points table and Sindh finishing at second.
Sindh will be led by left-handed batsman Jahanzaib Sultan, who has 203 runs in three matches with an average of 40.60 with one hundred.
After clinching the One-Day National U19 tournament with a comprehensive 123-run win over Balochistan in the final at the same venue earlier this week, Sindh will look to repeat the heroics.
They will be hoping Mohammad Taha Khan stretches his form into the final match. Taha is the third highest run-getter in the tournament with 347 runs in five matches at an average of 43.38.
He has scored one century and two half-centuries with his highest score of 105 coming against Balochistan U19 in a drawn match played at Naya Nazimabad Ground in Karachi.
In the bowling department, the champions of the one-day tournament will rely on Arish Ali Khan. The left-arm spinner has 23 scalps in the tournament at an average of 15.78. His best figures came in Sindh’s nine-wicket win over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19, when he took nine wickets for 87 in an innings and ended with match figures of 12 for 129 runs. He is on the second spot on the list of highest wicket takers in the tournament.
Northern will be headed by 18-year old Ziad Khan, who has scored 205 runs in five matches with two half-centuries, and will be hoping that Abdul Faseeh, the side’s highest run-getter, rises to the occasion. The left-handed batsman has 339 runs in five matches at an average of 48.43. He cracked one century and two half-centuries in eight innings over the course of the tournament.
Seventeen-year old Mehran Mumtaz is a vital cog in Northern’s bowling department. The slow left-arm has 20 wickets in five matches with an average of 16.75, to date, with the best figures of 5 for 44 in an innings and has twice taken five-wickets in an innings.
Sindh U19 captain Jahanzaib Sultan: “We have prepared well for the final and we will take the game as any normal match.
In the round-match against Northern we made few mistakes and we have worked hard not to make the same mistakes again.
“It’s going to be exciting match. We look forward to win the final and take another trophy back home.”
Northern U19 captain Ziad Khan: “The morale of the team is high after topping the table of the three-day tournament.
“We have defeated Sindh in the group-match, but we know Sindh will come back stronger. They have already won the One-Day tournament. We have worked hard on our skills and will go out there to win the trophy.”
