Thanks to Misbah’s heroic innings, Islamabad beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 2 wickets in the second encounter of Cool & Cool presents Haier Pakistan Cup 2016 One Day tournament at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.
KPK captain Younis Khan chose to bat first after winning the toss, the decision proved to an intelligent one as the opening pair gave away a 76-run stand.
After Ahmed Shehzad’s departure for hi 31, Younis Khan joined the party and kept rolling the strike with opener Fakhar Zaman.
KPK was right on track with Younis Khan making runs at brisk pace along with Fakhar Zaman when bad luck struck them with two back to back run outs to get run out in shape of Zaman (45) and then Ramiz Azeez on 12.
The table turned on KPK when captain Younis Khan went back to pavilion after scoring 61 runs. KPK kept losing wickets at regular interval and were bundled out for 212 runs in 46.1 overs.
Hammad Azam bowled brilliantly for his 3-27 in 7 overs.
Islamabad in reply took a disastrous start, losing three top batsmen for just 9 runs.
Bad light factor delayed the start of second innings. Match was reduced to 43 overs with target also reviewed to 201 for Islamabad.
Misbah was once again spot on, giving a helping hand to this inning along with Iftikhar Ahmed.
Misbah (82) and Iftikhar (48) put up a valuable 104-runs 4th wicket partnership, bring Islamabad back in the game.
At one stage it was felt that Islamabad will win quite comfortably with Misbah on the crease playing fear-free strokes, no sooner, he went to pavilion when stealing a single, the momentum shifted in KPK’s favor.
At that crucial time, under-19 pick for ISB, Shadab Khan played an innings of his life 33 off 29, giving his team a valuable win at very crucial moment.
Misbah ul Haq was chosen man of the match for his heroic innings at crucial time.