National T20 Cup: One final hurdle between glory and Karachi Blues

Multan fall eight runs short in Pindi chasing 190

KARACHI:

Half-centuries by Fawad Alam and Asad Shafiq, and a three-wicket haul by Abdul Ameer, steered Karachi Blues into the final of the National T20 Cup after Sarfraz Ahmed’s men defeated Multan by eight runs in the first semi-final at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Opting to bat first, Karachi Blues posted a strong total of 189-8 in their 20-overs despite losing three wickets early on to Majid Ali, including the wicket of in-form opener Khurram Manzoor on the second ball of the innings.



Sarfraz promoted himself up the order above Alam in order to up the ante and the move paid dividend as the wicketkeeper-batsman smashed a 16-ball 38 to ensure that the loss of wickets did not curtail the flow of runs.

However, a suicidal attempt at a single saw him sent back by Shafiq but a direct hit found him short of the ground.

Alam and Shafiq, usually not associated with big hitting and quick run-making, then put on a 75-run partnership off just 49 balls. But when Shafiq was dismissed for 53 off 34 balls, neither Shahid Afridi nor Anwar Ali were able to provide the late fireworks. Alam ended the innings on an unbeaten 60 off 42 balls to ensure that Multan needed to make 190 to reach the final.

Multan went off to a slow start, with former international Imran Farhat playing eight balls for his three runs before being dismissed on the ninth.

Skipper Kamran Akmal, who had made a superb century in the group stages, also struggled as he limped to a 19-ball 22 before holing out.

Sohaib Maqsood then came onto the middle to devastating effect, taking a particular liking to left-arm spinner Fawad Khan, smashing him for three consecutive sixes in the 10th over to keep Multan in the hunt.

However, three wickets in six balls — two by Ameer and one by Afridi — seeped all momentum out of the run chase and it seemed like nothing short of a formality when Multan were reduced to 120-7 with the required run-rate exceeding 17 an over.

Yamin and Zulfiqar babar had other ideas though and smashed the unfortunate Fawad for 23 to take his figures to 1-66 in four overs. Yamin continued to find the boundary and ensured that Multan had an outside chance going into the final over, needing 20.

23-year-old Rumman Raees kept his nerve despite being hit for a four and a six by Yamin — who despite making 45 off just 20 balls finished on the losing side — with some superb block-hole death bowling.

Winning captain Sarfraz expressed happiness over the way his side has managed to reach the final despite having to first play the qualification round.

The Pakistan T20 vice-captain also said he was not drafted in to come that early in the original plan. “I was not set to come at number five but when wickets fell quickly, I decided to come in and was able to score along with Asad, who played a brilliant innings.”

Sarfraz also praised his top-scorer. “Fawad is our key player, he has always come in to score when the team needs him,” he said.

Meanwhile, man of the match Ameer said he tried to stop the flow of runs rather than taking wickets, but ended up doing both.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th,  2015.

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