Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) stun Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in the first Cool and Cool Corporate Twenty20 Night Tournament here at DHA Sports Club (Moin Khan Academy) on Thursday. A 104-run third wicket partnership in just 10 overs between Muhammad Waqas and Akbar Rehman turned out to be the cornerstone of KESC’s comfortable 17 runs victory over a star-studded HBL in match six of the event.
Batting first, KESC scored 173-4 in 20 overs with Waqas a 42-ball 54 while Akbar scored fine 48 runs in 39 balls. Tariq Haroon finished the innings with a flourish when he slapped two sixes and a four in a rapid 17 that came off just five balls. KESC scored 57 runs in their first 10 overs but collected a whopping 116 runs off the last 60 deliveries. Habib Bank bowling comprised Umar Gul (4-0-30-0), Danish Kaneria (4-0-23-2), Shahid Afridi (4-0-26-1) and Abdul Rehman (2-0-36-0) but failed to contain the KESC batsmen.
In reply, Habib Bank only managed to score 156-7 in 20 overs with Younis Khan finishing as the top scorer with a 38-ball 49 that included two fours and two sixes. Hasan Raza hit two fours and three sixes in a 28-ball 44 while Asad Shafiq scored 40 runs in 32-ball which included three fours and two sixes. Shahid Afridi suffered a rare failure when he could score only one run while his opening partner Ahmed Shehzad managed six runs. Mansoor Khan caused the maximum damage with his off-spin with the bowling figures of 4-0-33-4.
Summarised Scores:
KESC: 173-4 in 20 overs (Muhammad Waqas 65, Akbar Rehman 48, Tariq Haroon 17*, Farhan Zaman 13, Danish Kaneria 2-23), HBL 156-7 in 20 overs (Younis Khan 49, Hasan Raza 44, Asad Shafiq 40, Mansoor Khan 4-33, Saeed Khan 2-31)