KARACHI: The biggest match of the IMC Over-40s T20 World Cup will be held on Monday (today) as Pakistan and Australia face off in the final at the National Bank Stadium here.
The undefeated Green Shirts enter the mega event’s showpiece with the added strength of veteran all rounder Shahid Afridi. Pakistan reached the final with a crushing nine-wicket win over USA in the semi-final at the National Bank Stadium on Saturday.
In the second semifinal, Australia defeated South Africa by five wickets. In the third-place playoff, South Africa defeated USA by nine wickets to claim third place. South Africa chased down the target of 140 runs in the 12th over, losing only one wicket. The highlight was Willy Hantam’s aggressive 76 off 29 balls.
In the ‘Bowl Final’ played at the Moin Khan Academy Ground, Zimbabwe edged out Canada by three wickets. Chasing 135, Berti Erasmus 35 off 24 and Saad Khan 35 off 32 led Zimbabwe to victory in 18.2 overs despite Ali Farooqi’s impressive 3/34 for Canada. Earlier, Canada posted 134/9 in their innings.
In the ‘Plate Final’ at the National Bank Stadium, Rest of the Gulf beat UAE by 32 runs. Hammad Saeed’s explosive 52* off 19 and Choudhry Muhammad Imran’s 44 off 23 powered Rest of Gulf to 212/6, with Abid Mushtaq contributing a steady 46 off 42. In reply, Babar Ghazanfar’s brilliant 61 off 33 kept UAE in the hunt, but M Waqqas Alvi’s exceptional 5/45 restricted them to 180/8.
In another match at Moin Khan Academy Ground, Rest of the World defeated Hong Kong China by nine wickets. West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets at Southend Club Cricket Stadium.
South Africa finished 3rd in the tournament, USA (4th), Rest of the Gulf (5th), UAE (6th), Rest of the World (7th), Hong Kong China (8th), Zimbabwe (9th), Canada (10th), West Indies (11th) and Sri Lanka (12th).
