RAWALPINDI: In the final of Pakistan Cup cricket tournament in Rawalpindi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Balochistan by 9 runs.
Batting first, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa scored 307 runs for the loss of seven wickets in allotted 50 overs.
Abid Ali remained top scorer of the match with 132 runs.
In reply, Balochistan managed to score 298 runs in stipulated fifty overs.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Khushdil Shah hammered his second century to help Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advance to the final of the Pakistan One-Day cricket tournament at the Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi.
The win against Sindh saw KP jumping to the top of the points table and face the challenge from Balochistan who are second in the league with five points.
Shah scored a 100 off 66 balls, enabling KP to put 300 runs on board.
After putting to bat first, KP were struggling at 120 for four in the 27th over. However, Shah who had already scored unbeaten 154 earlier in the tournament, once again batted brilliantly to take his side to a respectable total.
The 24-year-old left-hander, who hails from tribal belt punished every bowler, hitting five sixes and eight fours.
Chasing the target, Sindh lost a couple of quick wickets, but a 68-run partnership between Umar Siddiq and Umar Amin for the third wicket brought them back in the game.
Siddiq scored 69 runs off 65 balls, while Amin departed after scoring 23 runs.
Imran Rafiq made a half-century, while Asif Ali scored brisk 42 off 33 balls with the help of five fours and a towering six.
However, these efforts were not enough to take Sindh home as they managed to score 291 for the loss of nine, courtesy of spinner Zohaib Khan’s superb bowling, who grabbed three important wickets for 50 runs in nine overs.
Khushdil was declared Man of the Match.
