Lions show Panthers who is king

Fuelled by three cracking half-centuries, Lahore Lions defeated Peshawar Panthers by 36 runs in the Twenty20 Cup at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Openers Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad put on 113 runs off just 68 deliveries as they laid the foundation of the formidable 206 for four the Lions posted after being put into bat. The duo caused havoc on the field as the Panthers’ bowlers were flayed to all corners with Shehzad being the main aggressor.

The 18-year-old smashed 69 off 37 balls and his dismissal failed to apply the brakes as Umar Akmal added 85 with Jamshed who scored 70. Akmal was bowled by Riaz Afridi for 52 but not before the pair batted the Panthers out of the game.

In reply, Peshawar lost wickets at regular intervals in an attempt to match the ever-increasing run-rate as Abdul Razzaq, Lahore’s captain, took two important wickets and Wahab Riaz cleaned up the tail as the Panthers were bowled out in the 19th over.

Rams defeat Zebras

Disciplined bowling from Rawalpindi Rams ensured they started off their  Twenty20 campaign on a winning note as they defeated Karachi Zebras by 28 runs.

Rams, who were bowled out with one ball to spare, managed to put up a formidable 172 largely owed to Naved Ashraf who struck 45 off just 25 deliveries. The Rams’ bowlers then made sure no batsman crossed more than 24 as wickets at regular intervals dented Zebras’ chase.

Hammad Azam made up for his failure with the bat to finish with three for 29 while captain Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir claimed two wickets each as Zebras lost their second match of the tournament.

“We started off with a victory and hope to carry on with the good form,” said Arafat. “We played according to the plan, posted a competitive total and the bowlers then played well to defend that.”

Hawks soar higher

Captain Azeem Ghumman struck a quickfire 59 off just 29 deliveries to lead the Hyderabad Hawks to a seven-wicket win over Lahore Eagles.

The right-hander struck two sixes and nine boundaries in his brief stay at the crease and led the Hawks past the competitive 178-run target that the Eagles largely owed to Taufeeq Umar’s unbeaten 55-ball 78.

Ghumman shared an opening stand of 93 with Sharjeel Khan (31) in only seven overs to lay the foundation of the win after Umar won the toss and opted to bat. None of the other Eagles batsmen were able to contribute much with the bat and it was left to tailender Junaid Zia - 35 off 11 balls - to take his side to the respectable total.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2010.