KARACHI: Lahore Lions owed their success to Umar Akmal for the second time in three days as they marched into last-four phase of the Cool & Cool presents Haier Super 8 T20 Cup after overcoming Multan Tigers by 15 runs in the penultimate league-round fixture in Faisalabad on Saturday.

The Pakistan right-hander followed up his undefeated 85 against Faisalabad Wolves on Thursday evening with a career-best effort of 95 not out to help the title favourites post 180-3 at the Iqbal Stadium after older brother and Lions skipper Kamran Akmal had no hesitation in batting first at the toss.

The Tigers, who lost all three of their Group ‘B’ matches, made a gallant attempt to salvage lost pride after being saddled with a weakened squad that was missing Pakistan players Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali to name a few.

In the end they did quite well to make 165-5 thanked to the consistent Naved Yasin. The 27-year-old left-hander from Gaggu Mandi kept the Lions on their toes by scoring 68 off the 105 runs his side collected after he came at 63-3 in the ninth over of the chase.

Naved, relatively fresh from a career-best 69 not out versus the Wolves on Tuesday, bludgeoned five sixes and four fours during his 39-ball knock. Tigers captain Gulraiz Sadaf blasted three sixes and a four in scoring 33 from 27 deliveries while other main scorer was Kashif Mansha with a run-a-ball 27.

Discarded Pakistan seamer Aizaz Cheema was the best performer for the Lions with the ball as he grabbed three for 25 from his quota. Mohammad Hafeez was tidy as ever in taking 1-25.

But the man who made the real difference was Umar once again. The soon-to-be 25-year-old further strengthened his claims for selection for the forthcoming limited-overs fixtures against Zimbabwe with another innings of substance as he crunched 11 boundaries and belted four sixes in a 49-ball contribution.

Man-of-the-match Umar, while surpassing his previous best T20 score of 94 against Australia at Dhaka last year during the ICC World Twenty20, comfortably outscored Nasir Jamshed during their unbroken partnership of 129 after the Lions had slumped to 51-3 in the eighth over.

Ahmed Shehzad, another batsman desperate to impress chief selector Haroon Rasheed and company, failed again while matching his score against the Wolves when he was bowled by paceman Sadaif Mehdi for eight.

Hafeez also couldn’t get going when Zulfiqar Babar had him caught for eight before Kamran himself left the scene, bowled by Naved’s left-arm spin for a 25-ball 28 (four boundaries).

Nasir, who had a forgetful World Cup campaign not long ago, finally made a noteworthy score as he ended up contributing 33 off 27 deliveries (two fours and one six).

The last semi-finalists were being decided later on Saturday night in the final Group ‘B’ match between Faisalabad Wolves and Karachi Dolphins. The winners of that game will join the Lions in the knockout round.

Scoreboard

LAHORE LIONS:

Kamran Akmal b Naved 28

Ahmed Shehzad b Sadaif 8

Mohammad Hafeez c M. Ali b Zulfiqar 8

Umar Akmal not out 95

Nasir Jamshed not out 33

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-3, NB-2) 8

TOTAL (for three wkts, 20 overs) 180

FALL OF WKTS: 1-31, 2-49, 3-51.

DID NOT BAT: Saad Nasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mustafa Iqbal, Imran Ali, Aizaz Cheema, Mohammad Aftab.

BOWLING: Majid Ali 3-0-17-0 (1w); Mohammad Zahid 2-0-28-0 (1nb, 1w); Aamir Yamin 3-0-34-0 (1w); Sadaif Mehdi 4-0-37-1; Zulfiqar Babar 3-0-19-1; Naved Yasin 4-0-28-1; Mohammad Ali 1-0-14-0.

MULTAN TIGERS:

Sikander Khan c Ahmed b Aizaz 4

Aamir Yamin c Saad b Aizaz 11

Kashif Mansha c Ahmed b Mustafa 26

Gulraiz Sadaf c Saad b Hafeez 33

Naved Yasin not out 68

Mohammad Ali c Ahmed b Aizaz 9

Mohammad Azeem not out 10

EXTRAS (W-4) 4

TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs) 165

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-17, 3-63, 4-98, 5-130.

DID NOT BAT: Zulfiqar Babar, Sadaif Mehdi, Mohammad Zahid, Majid Ali.

BOWLING: Aizaz Cheema 4-0-25-3 (1w); Mohammad Aftab 4-0-43-0 (1w); Imran Ali 4-0-39-0 (2w); Mustafa Iqbal 4-0-33-1; Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-25-1.

RESULT: Lahore Lions won by 15 runs.

UMPIRES: Khalid Mahmood and Riazuddin.

TV UMPIRE: Shozab Raza.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwer Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Umar Akmal.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2015

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