Multan, Lahore, Eagles, Silkot, Karachi Dolphins, Bahawalpur and Lahore Lions registered win on the opening day of the National T20 Cup that rolled into action at three venues of the city. On the day six matches were played with two matches each at the Gaddafi Stadium, LCCA ground and Bagh-i-Jinnah and Multan got 10 wickets win over Quetta. Lahore Eagles defeated Hyderabad by 58 runs, Sialkot beat Islamabad by eight wickets, Karachi Dolphins moved past Peshawar by 40 runs, Bahawalpur edged ahead of Rawalpindi by 19 runs and Lahore Lions beat Karachi Zebras by seven wickets.
Multan steamrol Quetta: In the first match, Multan steamrolled Quetta by 10 wickets in their first Group A Faysal Bank T-20 Cup match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. After putting Quetta in, Multan’s fast bowlers, Abdur Rauf and Mohammad Irfan, struck thrice in the first three overs to reduce Quetta to 16 for 3. The situation got worse for Quetta with the introduction of spin in the sixth over as left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar struck with this second ball. Babar continued his stranglehold as he picked up two more wickets off consecutive balls in his second over and finished with incredible figures of 4-2-3-2. Irfan, who came back to bowl the seventeenth over, cleaned up the tail as Quetta were bowled out for 72. In response, it took Multan’s openers Zain Abbas and Sohaib Maqsood just 11 overs to overhaul the target.
Scores: Multan 72 for 0 (Abbas 40*, Maqsood 32*) beat Quetta 72 (Irfan 3-8, Babar 2-3) by 10 wickets
Lahore Eagles score comfortable
58-run win: Buoyed by opener Imran Farhat’s second T20 century, Lahore Eagles scored a comfortable 58-run win over Hyderabad. Farhat, who remained unbeaten on 100 off 58 balls, launched an attack with his opening partner Taufeeq Umar, who scored 65, to bring up the team’s 100 in the sixth over. The two batsmen put up 168 runs for the opening stand which set-up the base for the team’s 224-run total. Hyderabad remained on track till the halfway stage as opener Sharjeel Khan single-handedly fought on. Sharjeel remained unbeaten on 103, an innings laced with eight sixes and five boundaries, but didn’t receive support from the rest of the cast. For Lahore, Asif Raza and Junaid Zia were both economical and picked up two wickets apiece.
Scores: Lahore Eagles 224 for 2 (Farhat 100*, Taufeeq 65) beat Hyderabad 166 for 5 (Sharjeel 103*, Asif Raza 2-18) by 58 runs
Sialkot get commanding eight-wicket win: Defending champions Sialkot completed a commanding eight-wicket win over Islamabad in their first match. Islamabad, who chose to bat, struggled to force the pace and lost regular wickets from the start. Fast bowler Umaid Asif was the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets for 21 runs while Navel-ul-Hasan picked up two as Islamabad were restricted to 122. In response, Imran Nazir scored a quick half-century and was out after taking the team only 19 short of the target in the thirteenth over. Shoaib Malik and Haris Sohail, both stayed unbeaten on 21, and completed the chase without any further hiccup.
Scores: Sialkot 128 for 2 (Nazir 65) beat Islamabad 122 for 9 (Asif 3-21, Naved 2-14) by eight wickets
Afridi leads Dolphins to 40-run win: Shahid Afridi led Karachi Dolphins to a 40-run win against Peshawar with a half-century that lifted the team from a slump in the middle to a strong total of 164. Karachi Dolphins lost their first wicket off the first ball, but Shahzaib Hasan attacked with a flurry of boundary hits to score a quick 33 off 14 balls. But three wickets went down for six runs slowing the Dolphins down. But Afridi held one end together and stayed on the crease till the nineteenth over to ensure the team got to a decent total. Peshawar stumbled early in the chase when they were reduced to 20 for 4 in the fifth over, but a 68-run stand between Iftikhar Ahmed and Akbar Badshah resurrected hopes of a fight back. However, once Afridi removed the half-centurion Iftikhar, Peshawar collapsed and were all out for 124.
Scores: Karachi Dolphins 164 for 7 (Afridi 50, Waqar 2-28) beat Peshawar 124 (Iftikhar 57, Anwar 2-24) by 40 runs
Quick-fire Aslam helps Bahawalpur to win: Opener Imranullah Aslam’s quick-fire 89 off 53 balls helped Bahawalpur beat Rawalpindi by 19 runs. Aslam attacked from the start by dispatching Yasir Arafat for five fours in the third over of the match. He went on to hit 12 boundaries and two sixes in total before falling in the nineteenth over and helped them post 173. Rawalpindi faltered at the start as they lost opener Awais Zia off the fourth ball for a duck. Naved Malik and Babar Naeem kept them in the hunt, with Malik scoring 51 from 22 balls, with nine fours and a six. But his dismissal triggered a middle-order collapse and Rawalpindi managed 154. Siddiq was the pick of the Bahawalpur bowlers finishing with figures of 3 for 22.
Scores: Bahawalpur 173 for 5 (Imranullah 89) beat Rawalpindi 154 for 9 (Naved Malik 51, Siddiq 3-22) by 19 runs
Hafeez scores half-century to help Lahore Lions win: Soon after being appointed the captain, Mohammad Hafeez scored a half-century to help Lahore Lions beat Karachi Zebras by seven wickets. Chasing 142, the strong Lions team was not put under any pressure at any stage and even though they lost their openers with the score on 60, Hafeez and Umar Akmal used their experience and remained in control. The two batsmen shared a 67-run stand which came off 47 balls. Hafeez was out after scoring 53, but Umar continued to attack and helped complete the chase with 11 balls to spare. Zebras, after chosing to bat, made a solid start and were placed at 98 for 2 after Fahad Iqbal’s half-century. But three wickets went down for eight runs, slowing the the team down in the process. Aizaz Cheema was the most successful bowler with 2 for 21.
Scores: Lahore Lions 144 for 3 (Hafeez 53, Umar Akmal 43*) beat Karachi Zebras 141 for 6 (Fahad 59, Cheema 2-21) by seven wickets.
