Panthers to face Lions in final today

Stallions and Tigers struck out of race for national T20 trophy.

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s premier domestic Twenty20 tournament is all set to stage yet another enthralling final, with Karachi’s historical National Stadium expecting a full house to witness the action between Peshawar Panthers and Lahore Lions on Sunday.

Panthers defeated seven-time winners Sialkot Stallions in the first semi-final of the day, while Lahore Lions beat Multan Tigers in the race to the final.

Earlier in the day, Panthers scored 156-7 in their 20 overs for Stallions to chase. The latter required 12 runs in the last over but a great display of slow bowling from Imran Khan Junior sent Stallions crashing out of the Haier Twenty20 Cup.

Left-arm medium-fast Imran, the leading wicket taker of the ongoing tournament, is relishing the presence of seniors around him and promises to rake in more wickets in the final.

“It’s been a good tournament for me as I continue to learn from the seniors around me,” Imran Khan Jr told The Express Tribune. “Taking 10 wickets in the tournament has given me the satisfaction that I’ve been able to perform consistently. However, there is still one match to go and I’d be really happy if I can take some more wickets or even restrict the score to guide my team towards glory.”

Kamran Akmal bags win for Lions

Kamran Akmal played a scintillating knock of 53-ball 77 to help Lions amass a difficult total for Tigers to chase.

Lions opted to bat first and scored 179 runs courtesy Kamran’s blistering innings and Imam ul Haq’s slow half-century.

In reply, Multan openers Zain Abbas (0) and Zeeshan Ashraf (2) gave up without making any useful contributions. Sohaib Maqsood (26) and Naved Yasin (39) gave a little push to Multan’s innings but for a lost cause. In the end, Rizwan Haider showed some resistance with his 42 accompanied by Zulfiqar Babar’s 20 but the target seemed too big for Tigers to chase.

The final will be played in the National Stadium of Karachi at 1900 PST.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2014.

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