KARACHI: Quetta Bears almost sealed a famous win when they fell just short of overhauling Hyderabad Hawks as they kick-started the 11th edition the National T20 Cup here at the National Stadium on Wednesday.

Chasing 165, with 21 of them in the last over of the Group ‘A’ match, the Bears ended up making 157-7 after an entertaining partnership of 66 off 39 balls between captain Bismillah Khan and T20 debutant Zubair Ahmed had provided then a perfect platform.

Bismillah slapped seven boundaries on his way to 21-ball 37, while Zubair hit four fours and one six in scoring 25 off 20 balls.

But three wickets in the space off nine balls saw Bears nosedive to a position of uncertainty. And despite Mohibullah’s 40 (30 balls, three fours and two sixes) and his stand of 51 with Taimur Khan (17), the Bears never had enough left in their tank for the final flourish.

The Hawks were lucky on one count when Lal Kumar dismissed Jalat Khan in a LBW verdict that appeared to extremely doubtful as the all-rounder had advanced down the pitch.

Earlier, Shoaib Leghari and seasoned campaigner Faisal Athar were the mainstays of the Hawks’ total of 165-7 after Bismillah opted that bowling first would be the best option for the Bears.

Man-of-the-match Shoaib lashed no less than half a dozen sixes (and a solitary boundary) in a belligerent 37-ball 58 while Faisal, who turns 39 next month, made up for skipper Sharjeel Khan’s failure (nine) with a 46-ball 48 (seven fours and one six).

Scoreboard

HYDERABAD HAWKS:

Azeem Ghumman c Bismillah b Nazar 0

Sharjeel Khan c Ghulam b Arun Lal 9

Faisal Athar b Jalat 48

Shoaib Leghari c Mohibullah b Ghulam 58

Lal Kumar c Arun Lal b Jalat 22

Mir Ali Talpur c Zubair b Ghulam 8

Nauman Ali c Arun Lal b Ghulam 2

Mohammad Awais not out 1

Nasir Awais not out 8

EXTRAS (B-1, W-7) 8

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 164

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-38, 3-83, 4-133, 5-151, 6-151, 7-153.

DID NOT BAT: Farhan Ayub, Rehan Nizamuddin.

BOWLING: Nazar Hussain 4-0-36-1 (5w); Gohar Faiz 4-0-26-0; Arun Lal 4-0-24-1 (2w); Jalat Khan 4-0-30-2; Ghulam Mohammad 3-0-30-3; Shahzad Tareen 1-0-17-0.

QUETTA BEARS:

Bismillah Khan b Nasir 37

Zubair Khan b Mir Ali 25

Shahzad Tareen run out 2

Mohibullah run out 40

Taimur Khan c Nasir b Lal Kumar 17

Jalat Khan lbw b Lal Kumar 0

Mohammad Farhan not out 20

Arun Lal c Sharjeel b Lal 11

EXTRAS (W-5) 5

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 157

FALL OF WKTS: 1-66, 2-68, 3-68, 4-119, 5-119, 6-127, 7-157.

DID NOT BAT: Gohar Faiz, Ghulam Mohammad, Nazar Hussain.

BOWLING: Farhan Ayub 3-0-25-1 (1w); Lal Kumar 4-0-43-3 (3w; Nasir Awais 3-1-13-1; Nauman Ali 4-0-32-0; Mir Ali Talpur 4-0-30-1; Rehan Nizamuddin 2-0-14-0.

RESULT: Hyderabad Hawks won by seven runs.

UMPIRES: Jamil Kamran and Naushad Khan.

TV UMPIRE: Mohammad Asif.

MATCH REFEREE: Zaigham Burki.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shoaib Leghari.

Published in Dawn, September 18th , 2014