Multan Tigers, Rawalpindi Rams and Peshawar Panthers grabbed wins in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup Friday at the National Stadium Karachi. Peshawar Panthers shocked Karachi Dolphins to get a semi-final berth. The Panthers, led by fast-medium bowler Umar Gul, won by 29 runs as the Dolphins captained by all-rounder Shahid Afridi could not chase the huge target of 178 runs despite a brave knock of 37 runs by wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed and were restricted to148-9. After batting first, Peshawar Panthers made 177 runs for seven wickets in 20 overs.
Zohaib Khan was the top scorer with an unbeaten 43 runs in 23 balls. He smashed three fours and two sixes. Rafatullah Mohmand (42) and Mohammad Fayyaz (39) were the other prominent scorers. For Karachi Dolphins, Faraz Ahmed, captain Shahid Afridi and Rumman Raees took two wickets each. In the opening match of the day, Afghan Cheetas crashed to another defeat, now losing to Multan Tigers by four wickets.
Tigers allowed Cheetas score just 131 runs for nine wickets and later achieved the target for six with four balls to spare.
Najeeb Taraki, Fazal Niazi and Mohammad Nabi provided some stability to Cheetas innings but that stability was not enough to earn them a win. Shabbir Ahmed with three wickets was the pick of the bowler. In reply, Tigers’ Zain Abbas with his half century laid solid foundation for the win in which Kamran Hussain also played a part. Mohammad Nabi was the main Cheetas bowler and picked two wickets. In the second match, Rams rammed hard Faisalabad Wolves in a closely contested match by seven runs.
Rams got 165 runs on board for eight wickets . Umar Amin and Jamal Anwar ensured a big total for Rams and even Saeed Ajmal’s bowling who took three wickets could not halt their flow of runs.
In reply, Wolves even main stream batsman Misbahul Haq (43) and Imran Khalid (48) could not maintain the required runrate and fell to bowlers like Soahil Tanvir and Mohammad Ramiz. Both these bowlers shared two wickets each.
Afghan Cheetas
vs Multan Tigers:
Afghan Cheetas 131-9 in 20 overs (Najib Taraki 34, Muhammad Nabi 34, Naved Yasin 4-17, Shabbir Ahmed 3-27).
Multan Tigers 135-6 in 19.2 overs (Zain Abbas 54, Kamran Hussain 33*, Muhammad Nabi 2-32, Nasim Khan 1-16).
Toss: Afghan Cheetas, who chose to bat.
Result: Multan Tigers won by 4 wickets.
Player of the match: Naved Yasin (Multan Tigers).
Rawalpindi Rams
vs Faisalabad Wolves:
Rawalpindi Rams 165-8 in 20 overs (Umar Amin 53, Jamal Anwar 41, Saeed Ajmal 3-32, Abdur Rauf, 1-20). Faisalabad Wolves 158-8 in 20 overs (Imran Khalid 48, Misbah-ul-Haq 43, Sohail Tanvir 2-23, Muhammad Rameez 2-33).
Toss: Rawalpindi Rams, who chose to bat.
Result: Rawalpindi Rams won by 7 runs.
Player of the match: Umar Amin (Rawalpindi Rams).
Peshawar Panthers
vs Karachi Dolphins:
Peshawar Panthers 177-7 in 20 overs (Zohaib Khan 43*, Rafatullah Mohmand 42, Faraz Ahmed 2-27, Shahid Afridi 2-32).
Karachi Dolphins 148-9 in 20 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 37, Shahid Afridi 19, Nauman Habib 3-27, Zohaib Khan 2-19).
Toss: Peshawar Panthers, who chose to bat.
Result: Peshawar Panthers won by 29 runs.
Player of the match: Zohaib Khan (Peshawar Panthers).
