FATA’s hopes of qualifying for the last four may be all but over, but that didn’t stop them from inflicting a damaging defeat on Karachi Whites. FATA triumphed in a run fest that saw centurions on both sides, but it was ultimately the team batting first that emerged victorious.
Mukhtar Ahmed was primarily responsible for FATA’s gargantuan total of 219, smashing 117 off 58 balls. Further impetus was added late on with a devastating cameo from Sohail Akhtar, who struck 5 sixes in 14 balls, scoring 39 runs. Several of Karachi’s bowlers were terribly expensive, the hapless Tabish Khan conceding a whopping 62 runs in his four overs.
In response, the in-form Khurram Manzoor struck a 61-ball 104 as part of a 98-run partnership with Haris Sohail, who also scored a half-century. Karachi still harboured hopes of grabbing an unlikely win while those two were at the crease, but in the end, the target was too much, and they succumbed by 19 runs.
In the day’s other game, Lahore Blues sealed their spot in the last four with a clinical 5-wicket win over Islamabad. Set 175 to win, Ahmed Shehzad put them on course with a blistering 79 that came in just 47 deliveries. After his dismissal, Hussain Talat kept them on track with an assured 41, and by the time he was run out, his side needed a mere four runs to win, and the game was in the bag.
Islamabad’s total had been set up with yet another hundred, this one off the bat off Shan Masood. Masood, who is now the tournament’s second highest scorer, carried his bat, facing 68 deliveries for his 103. It may not have won his side the match, but will do his chances of international selection no harm whatsoever.
