A splendid bowling spell by of Abbottabad Falcons duo Fazale Rabi and Kamran Ghulam guided the team to an eight-wicket victory over Dera Murad Jamali Ibexes in their Group D fixture of the National T20 Cup at Karachi’s National Stadium on Wednesday.
This was the second victory for Falcons, boosting them to the top of Group D, while Ibexes failed to qualify for the semi-finals after losing two of the three matches played.
Ibexes chose to bat first and were restricted to a score of 83 runs in 14.4 overs as an opening attack by Rabi and Ghulam accounted for eight batsmen in total. Ahmed Jamal dismissed the remaining two batsmen. Faisal Ahmed (24) and Imran Rind (24) were the top scorers for Ibexes.
In reply, Falcons chased the target in the 13th over courtesy opener Fakhar Zaman’s 44 off 34 balls as he hit seven boundaries and one six. Fellow opener Yasir Hameed could only contribute 10 runs. Younus Khan was the other batsmen who helped Abbottabad’s cause with a 22-ball 23. Faizullah and Shabbir Ali bagged one wicket apiece.
Mohmand, Zohaib lead Panthers to massive win
In the other match, dazzling innings by Rafatullah Mohmand and fabulous bowling by captain Zohaib Khan steered Peshawar Panthers towards a nine-wicket victory over AJK Jaguars in their Group C fixture.
This was the third match for both teams. Panthers have won all three of their matches, topping Group C, while Jaguars lost all their matches and have no chance to make it to the next round.
Sent in to bat first, Jaguars were restricted to 81 runs in 15.5 overs as Zohaib took four crucial wickets, giving away only 11 runs. Imran Khan and Imran Khan Jr claimed two wickets apiece. Raheel Majeed (36) and Imran Arif (16) were the top scorers for Jaguars.
In reply, Panthers’ Mohmand struck a magnificent 25-ball 46, courtesy one six and eight boundaries, while Israrullah scored 31 off 23 balls to reach the target in just 8.3 overs for a loss of only one wicket taken by Abdul Shakoor who gave away 30 runs.
In the last match of the day, Ali Waqas aided Faisalabad Wolves to their six-wicket victory over Lahore Eagles in their Group C fixture.
Chasing 146, Wolves reached their target for the loss of four wickets and eight deliveries to spare as Waqas smashed 72 off 52 balls with the help of nine boundaries. Farrukh Shehzad also chipped in with a 22-ball 33, hitting one six and five fours.
Captain Misbahul Haq also batted well, scoring 26 off 22 balls with one four and one six. Zafar Gohar accounted for two batsmen.
Earlier, Eagles scored 145-6 in their allotted 20 overs as trio Khurram Shahzad, Muhammad Talha and Asad Ali took two wickets each. Hussain Talat (46), Sami Aslam (31), and Adnan Akmal (25) batted well in an otherwise poor performance.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2014.
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