Salman Khab
MULTAN: Ali Hassan Baloch’s Lahore Blues will take on Mohammad Arshad’s Rawalpindi in the final of the National U19 Cup on Thursday, 16 October. The 50-over final will be played here at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
The toss will take place at 09.00am, while the first ball of the match will be bowled at 09.30am.
The winner of Thursday’s contest will not only lift the trophy but will also receive prize money of PKR two million, while the runner-up will take home PKR one million
Individual awards include PKR 100,000 each for the best batter, bowler, wicketkeeper and player of the tournament, while the player of the final will be awarded PKR 75,000.
The tournament serves as an important platform for emerging players to stake their claims for selection in the Pakistan U19 squad for the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup 2026, scheduled to be held in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The 18-team tournament, featuring sides from 16 regions, commenced on 21 September, with nine teams each placed in two groups. Following the group stage, Lahore Blues topped Group ‘A’ with 13 points from eight matches, which included six wins, one loss and one abandoned fixture due to rain.
From Group ‘B’, Rawalpindi finished with 15 points from eight matches, registering seven wins, while one match was abandoned due to rain.
Among the batters, Lahore Blues’ captain Ali Hassan Baloch has led from the front, scoring 601 runs from seven matches at an average of 85.86, including three centuries. He currently leads the tournament’s batting charts. From Rawalpindi, right-handed batter Abdul Qadir is placed eighth on the list with 295 runs from six innings at an average of 73.75, which includes one century and two half-centuries.
In the bowling department, Rawalpindi will rely on left-arm spinner Mohammad Hassan Khan, who has taken 19 wickets from seven matches and is currently third on the bowling charts. He has one five-wicket haul in the competition. For Lahore Blues, right-arm off-spinner Ibtisam Azhar has been the team’s most successful bowler, occupying sixth spot with 17 wickets from seven matches, including two four-wicket hauls and one three-wicket haul.
