LAHORE, Feb 25: Skipper Kashif Siddique's all-round performance helped the Lahore Lions enter into the final of the National One-day Cup by defeating low-rated Quetta Bears by nine wickets at the LCCA Ground on Sunday.
Kashif played an unbeaten knock of 94 off 63 deliveries in reply to Bears' total of 166. He cracked 16 boundaries and one six.
He was fully supported by Junaid Malik who hit 50 off 67 deliveries with the help of four boundaries.
Both Kashif and Junaid scored 140 runs in the second wicket partnership as the Lions chased the target in 24.1 overs for loss of one wicket (Taufeeq Umar).
Earlier, the Quetta Bears won the toss and elected to bat first. They were all out for 166 with only two deliveries to spare.
Opener Shoaib Khan and Naseeb Khan were prominent scorers for the Bears with 35 and 30 runs respectively.
Medium-pacer Imran Ali grabbed three wickets for 31 while Kashif claimed two for 16 with his leg-spinners.
The Lions will face Islamabad Leopards in the final at the KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
Officials of the match are Riazuddin and Iqbal Butt (umpires), Abdul Sami Khan (match-referee) and Shakeel Ahmed (scorer).
The winning team will collect Rs150,000 while runners-up will pocket Rs75,000. Man-of-the-Final will get Rs15,000.
Best batsman, bowler, fielder and wicket-keeper will receive Rs15,000 each.
Scoreboard
QUETTA REGION
Shoaib Khan c Kashif b Wasim 35
Samiullah c Kashif b Wasim 0
Nasim Khan c Shahbaz bWahab 7
Taimoor Ali b Imran 19
Arun Lal c Shahbaz b Imran 14
Naseeb Khan c & b Kashif 30
Jalat Khan c & b Kashif 5
Sanaullah lbw Salman 7
Shahzad Tareen run out 28
Kashif Sattar not out 12
Zahoor Ahmed b Imran 2
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-5) 7
TOTAL (all out, 49.4 overs) 166
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-18, 3-5, 4-66, 5-87, 6-109, 7-119, 8-127, 9-164.
BOWLING: Wasim Khan 9.5-1-33-2 (1w); Wahab Riaz 10-1-30-1 (1w); Imran Ali 9.4-1-31-3 (1w); Taufeeq Umar 0.1-0-1-0; Ali Azmat 5-0-24-0 (1w); Salman Qadir10-1-27-1 (1w); Kashif Siddique 5-0-18-2.