Super8 T20 Cup: Panthers keep semi-final hopes alive
Defending champions claim six-wicket win over Abbottabad Falcons to knock them out.
A brilliant knock by man of the match Rafatullah Mohmand, who scored a 34-ball 78, helped Panthers reach the target with an over to spare. PHOTO: INP
KARACHI:
A quick-fire half-century by opener Rafatullah Mohmand guided Peshawar Panthers to their first victory of the Super8 T20 Cup against Abbottabad Falcons at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Wednesday, with the Panthers’ six-wicket win sending Falcons out of the race for the semi-finals.
Panther, who lost their first match to Sialkot Stallions by seven wickets, won their second match to get two points in their Group A, to ensure that they are still with a shout of reaching the last four.
Chasing 179 runs, Panthers lost opener Israrullah on a duck early in the third over but a brilliant knock by man of the match Mohmand, who scored a 34-ball 78, helped Panthers reach the target with an over to spare.
Mohmand’s effort at the top was carried on by Muhammad Rizwan, who under immense pressure managed to score an unbeaten 51 off 28 balls to guide his side home, fittingly hitting the winning boundary.
Ahmed Jamal, Kamran Ghulam and skipper Junaid Khan all took one wicket apiece for Falcons, giving away 56, 24 and 19 runs respectively.
Falcons had posted a good total of 178 runs with the loss of four wicket earlier in the day as Ali scored 52 off 32 balls along with Adnan Raees, who scored an unbeaten 45 off 24 runs, to give his side a more than defendable total.
Kamran Ghulam (32), Yasir Hameed (20) and Fakhar Zaman (20) all got starts but were unable to carry on for the Abbotabad side.
Falcons President Zahid Saeed said that while the return of Junaid helped, the team still missed the experience of Younus Khan. “Younus is expected to play in the next match, which will increase our performance in the last match,” he said.
Man of the match Mohmand said that, “The credit for our victory goes to our coach who kept us calm in the dressing room.”
Winning captain Zohaib Khan was already looking to the future. “The team is getting back to the performances of the T20 Championship that we won last year and I hope we will be able to up the ante to reach the semi-finals.”
The losing captain, on the other hand, was not happy with the way his younger men played and said that the team is missing experience.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2015.
A quick-fire half-century by opener Rafatullah Mohmand guided Peshawar Panthers to their first victory of the Super8 T20 Cup against Abbottabad Falcons at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Wednesday, with the Panthers’ six-wicket win sending Falcons out of the race for the semi-finals.
Panther, who lost their first match to Sialkot Stallions by seven wickets, won their second match to get two points in their Group A, to ensure that they are still with a shout of reaching the last four.
Chasing 179 runs, Panthers lost opener Israrullah on a duck early in the third over but a brilliant knock by man of the match Mohmand, who scored a 34-ball 78, helped Panthers reach the target with an over to spare.
Mohmand’s effort at the top was carried on by Muhammad Rizwan, who under immense pressure managed to score an unbeaten 51 off 28 balls to guide his side home, fittingly hitting the winning boundary.
Ahmed Jamal, Kamran Ghulam and skipper Junaid Khan all took one wicket apiece for Falcons, giving away 56, 24 and 19 runs respectively.
Falcons had posted a good total of 178 runs with the loss of four wicket earlier in the day as Ali scored 52 off 32 balls along with Adnan Raees, who scored an unbeaten 45 off 24 runs, to give his side a more than defendable total.
Kamran Ghulam (32), Yasir Hameed (20) and Fakhar Zaman (20) all got starts but were unable to carry on for the Abbotabad side.
Falcons President Zahid Saeed said that while the return of Junaid helped, the team still missed the experience of Younus Khan. “Younus is expected to play in the next match, which will increase our performance in the last match,” he said.
Man of the match Mohmand said that, “The credit for our victory goes to our coach who kept us calm in the dressing room.”
Winning captain Zohaib Khan was already looking to the future. “The team is getting back to the performances of the T20 Championship that we won last year and I hope we will be able to up the ante to reach the semi-finals.”
The losing captain, on the other hand, was not happy with the way his younger men played and said that the team is missing experience.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2015.