Sports

Disabled T20 Pentangular Cup: Wajid half-century guides K-P to title

Defeat Balochistan by three wickets in final

Nabil Tahir April 05, 2016

K-P pose with the Pakistan Disabled T20 Pentangular Cup trophy after defeating Balochistan by three wickets in the final. PHOTO COURTESY: PAKISTAN DISABLED CRICKET ASSOCIATION

KARACHI: Wajid Alam’s scintillating half-century stole the show as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) clinched the Pakistan Disabled T20 Pentangular Cup by defeating Balochistan by three wickets in the final at the National Stadium of Karachi yesterday.

Batting first, Balochistan lost their star batsmen Matloob Qureshi (naught) and Saifullah (four) early on as K-P’s Mohammad Abdullah claimed their wickets.

Man of the match Zubair Saleem then came in and anchored the innings, making 56 runs along with Nasarullah Khan, who made 33, to take the score to 141-9 in 20 overs. K-P’s Fayyaz Ahmed and Abdullah took three wickets apiece.

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Chasing 142, K-P reached the target in 19.2 overs losing seven wickets in the process as Wajid scored 50 off 34 balls, studded with eight fours, while Zafar Hussain made 29 off 26 balls to lay the foundation for a successful run chase.

Ghani also contributed to the score with his 22-run knock, while Abdullah Afridi (12) hit a six off the final ball to seal the win with four balls remaining. Balochistan’s Abdullah Khan and Zubair Saleem took two wickets each.

K-P captain Fayyaz was delighted with the team’s win and had special praise for his bowlers who managed to dismiss danger-men Matloob and Saifullah.

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“The team played really well,” Fayyaz told The Express Tribune. “They had the energy and the will to win the final and the results speak for themselves. The bowlers did a great job in dismissing Matloob and Saifullah as they could have caused problems.”

Losing caption Matloob, meanwhile, rued the incorrect decision of batting first as the main factor for their loss.

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“I won the toss and took the wrong decision,” said Matloob. “I had in my mind to bowl first after winning the toss but then elected to bat; bad decision. If either one of us [Saifullah and I] would have stayed at the crease the score would have been much better.”

The winning team was awarded Rs100,000, while the losing side pocketed Rs50,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2016.

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