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| December 27, 2006 | Wednesday | Zilhaj 05, 1427 |
Big-hitting Afridi powers Dolphins to victory
KARACHI, Dec 26: A hurricane Shahid Afridi cameo powered Karachi Dolphins to a five-wicket victory over Peshawar Panthers in the first semi-final of the ABN-AMRO Twenty20 Cup at the National Stadium here on Monday.
Afridi, the Pakistan all-rounder, bludgeoned 49 off just 19 deliveries to help his side canter home in the 16th over as the Dolphins made 128 for five while chasing a target of 125.
The Dolphins looked in some bother when they three wickets for runs, but their skipper made the difference as he launched a blistering attack on the Panthers’ bowling.
None suffered more than Arshad Khan. The former Test off-spinner was smashed for several sixes, one of which landed on the rooftop to the delight of the 15,000 holiday crowd.
Afridi’s blitz contained five sixes and three fours before he tried to end the match with another heave off the luckless Arshad only to hole out to Riaz Afridi in the deep.
Left-handers Shadab Kabir (27 off 24 balls) and Fawwad Alam (24 off 30 balls) also made useful contributions while adding 52 for the second wicket.
Earlier, the Panthers struggles to to pile up a big total after Younis Khan, the national vice-captain, had won the toss and elected to bat. Apart from Mohammad Fayyaz’s 24 off 23 balls, nobody else could get going against accurate spin bowling of Azam Hussain (3-19), Afridi (2-19) and Fawwad (2-21).
Younis disappointed when he fell to Fawwad for only 14. The Dolphins’ fielding was quite brilliant. Shadab set the example with a stunning catch to get rid of Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed (13) while running backwards at mid-wicket.
Afridi was overwhelming choice as the man-of-the-match.
Scoreboard
PESHAWAR PANTHERS
Yasir Hameed c Shadab b Anwar 13
Mohammad Fayyaz c Fawwad b Azam 24
Riffatullah Mohmand c Fawwad b Azam 6
Wajahatullah Wasti c Shadab b Afridi 5
Younis Khan b Fawwad 14
Riaz Afridi lbw b Azam 11
Aftab Khan b Sami 15
Umar Gul b Afridi 4
Aslam Qureshi c Anwar b Fawwad 3
Arshad Khan not out 7
Fazle Akbar not out 2
EXTRAS (B-6, LB-11, W-3) 20
TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs) 124
FALL OF WKTS: 1-39, 2-57, 3-57, 4-70, 5-81, 6-101, 7-106, 8-115, 9-121.
BOWLING: Mohammad Sami 4-0-24-1 (1w); Anwar Ali Khan 4-0-24-1 (2w); Azam Hussain 4-0-19-3; Shahid Afridi 4-0-19-2; Fawwad Alam 4-0-21-2.
KARACHI DOLPHINS:
Maisam Hasnain lbw b Fazle 3
Shadab Kabir c Riffat b Aslam 27
Fawwad Alam c Aftab b Arshad 24
Khalid Latif run out 1
Shahid Afridi c Riaz b Arshad 49
Naumanullah not out 18
Wasim Naeem not out 0
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, W-1) 6
TOTAL (for five wkts, 15.4 overs) 128
FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-55, 3-56, 4-57, 5-124.
DID NOT BAT: Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Azam Hussain, Anwar Ali Khan.
BOWLING: Umar Gul 4-0-32-0 (1w); Fazle Akbar 3-0-20-1; Arshad Khan 3.4-0-40-2; Aslam Qureshi 4-0-21-1; Mohammad Fayyaz 1-0-10-0.
RESULT: Karachi Dolphins won by five wickets.
UMPIRES: Mian Aslam and Salim Badar.
TV UMPIRE: Iftikhar Malik.
MATCH REFEREE: Abdul Sami Khan.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shahid Afridi.
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