Ehsan Adil played only three balls, but in that short a time, he made sure Faisalabad Region hurtled to the finish line with two wickets and three balls to spare. Adil, known more for his bowling, hammered two fours and a six to help his team chase down a target of 179 and beat Abbottabad Region in Rawalpindi.
The foundation of the chase had been laid by No. 3 Khurram Shehzad’s 59 off 39 balls and there was able support from No. 4 Asif Ali who struck 45 off 31. Legspinner Yasir Shah accounted for both men to bring Abbottabad back and fashion a lower-middle order panic. Even the reliable Misbah-ul-Haq could eke out only 14 off 12. The score slipped from 108 for 2 to 147 for 7. Junaid Khan, who had pried out the openers the very first over of the chase, produced a fine spell of bowling: 4-0-24-4.
But Adil was able to put in the big blows when the most counted. He had also been Faisalabad’s best bowler was well with 3 for 33 in his four overs. Fifties from opener Yasir Hameed (59) and wicketkeeper Sajjad Ali (56) had dragged Abbottabad to a formidable total. One that ended up being just a few runs light.
Group A
Zain Abbas’ unbeaten 47-ball 57 and Imran Farhat’s 46 off 32 balls set up Multan Region’s 33-run win over Bahawalpur Region in Islamabad.
Multan, after being inserted, posted 169 losing only three wickets. They didn’t have a particularly big opening stand though; their scoreboard read 25 when Bahawalpur captain Kamran Hussain removed his opposite number Kamran Akmal. But thereafter, Farhat and then Abbas, took control and cranked things up too. The duo hit eight and seven fours respectively, and Naved Yasin’s 26 off 14 balls provided a strong finish they were looking for. Three of Bahawalpur’s bowlers conceded more than nine runs an over.
Bahawalpur’s chase slumped to 14 for 2 as seamer Aamer Yamin removed the openers early. Riasat Ali, who made 63 off 40 balls, including four fours and four sixes, put on 68 for the third wicket in the company of Faisal Mubashir. Bahawalpur, despite losing only four wickets, were never really in with a chance owing to the Multan bowlers making run-scoring difficult. Majid Ali and Rahat Ali finished with economy rates of less than 4.3.
