Khayyam was happy to bat first after winning the toss on a cold day. The match was reduced to 28 overs a-side.
Hashir and Tara opened for Asker. Lindeberg bowlers started well and made good use of friendly bowling conditions. After a couple of quiet overs, Tara tried to hit over mid-off but could not clear him. Mehdi came in at number 3 and started to look for singles to give Hashir the strike. Hashir carried his good form forward, hitting a couple of big sixes. Hashir fell trying to hit one too many, and Mehdi joined him at the same score. Asker were in a slight spot of bother at 33/3. Ravi and Qasim got their heads down and tried to play risk-free cricket, taking singles and hitting the occasional boundary. Thick grass at Rud means that the outfield is slow, and the ball does not lose it's shine soon. At the mid-innings break, Asker were 69/3 after 14 overs. After taking instructions from Khayyam and Tara to bat for the next 3-4 overs, Ravi fell first ball. Khayyam replaced him in the middle. His timing was looking good but he fell at the wrong time. Israr joined Qasim in the middle and they put on a good partnership taking Asker past 100. Israr was looking very good, till he had a communication breakdown with Qasim to be runout.Ali came in next, but was out trying to up the run-rate. Hamid replaced him and hit a lovely cover drive before getting out. Waqas then did a good job in the middle with Qasim. Qasim was run-out off the last ball. He played a very patient innings and put Asker in a good position leaving Lindeberg 146 to chase in 28 overs.
Tara and Qasim opened the bowling for Asker. Tara had some difficulties getting his line right in the first over but adjusted soon after. He was unlucky to have a catch dropped off him. Qasim bowled tight lines as ever. Both the bowlers then agreed to disagree on a fielding position. This was very funny at first, and then became very serious. Khayyam decided to replace both the bowlers and brought Mehdi and Waqas into the bowling attack. Waqas had his first wicket and Mehdi got the second wicket. Lindeberg was however looking pretty good at this stage, with a score of around 75 at the halfway stage. Khayyam decided to give a motivational speech at the halfway stage which offended Qasim, and brought Tara and Qasim together again. With this problem solved, Israr came onto bowl. Israr changed from spin to medium pace, confusing the batsmen, the umpires, his own fielders and picking up 2 wickets in the process. The Asker fielders were quick on their feet now, Adnan diving away at mid-wicket and Ali at third-man restricting singles and putting pressure on Lindeberg. Waqas kept taking wickets at the other end. Khayyam then brought Hashir to bowl. Hashir bowled full and fast. He ended up with 3 wickets including the crucial one of the Lindeberg captain. Abdullah then fell to Waqas, Qasim taking a calm catch under pressure. The light was fading now, and the umpires requested Khayyam to ask his bowlers to bowl slower, or risk being taken off with D/L calculations. Khayyam wisely stayed on, and the last wicket fell thanks to good work by Mehdi and Hamid. This completed a closely fought match and a good win for Asker.
The scorecard can be seen here.
Match highlights:
Qasim: 43 runs in 52 balls
Waqas: 3/27
Hashir: 3/17