Fata, Karachi Blues score contrasting T20 wins

Published September 5, 2015
An unidentified Fata batsman is clean bowled during the T20 Cup qualifying match against Dera Murad Jamali at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. — INP
An unidentified Fata batsman is clean bowled during the T20 Cup qualifying match against Dera Murad Jamali at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. — INP

RAWALPINDI: Locked in a race for attaining top position in group ‘B’, Karachi Blues raised their game to beat Bahawalpur after an exciting clash while Fata routed Dera Murad Jamli in a lop-sided contest in the qualifying round of the Cool & Cool presents Haier T20 Cup fixture at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here on Friday.

While Karachi Blues and Bahawalpur both have already booked their semi-final berths, they gave their best in this exciting clash here in an effort to grab the top position in group ‘B’ which was ultimately won by Karachi by three runs.

Till the filing of this report, Lahore Blues who have also advanced into the semi-final in group ‘A’, were playing against Larkana. In case Larkana manage to cause a big upset by defeating Lahore, they will also move into the semi-final of group ‘A’. Otherwise, the matter will be decided between Quetta, who won one game out of three matches, and Larkana on the basis of run rate.

In the first match of the day, Bahawalpur after winning the toss decided to field first. Karachi once again faced an early loss of opener Khurram Manzoor (7) in the second over who was dismissed by Zahir Siddiqi.

However, in-form one-down batsman Shahzaib Hasan put on a 33-run partnership with Khalid Latif for the second wicket which was eventually broken by Moinuddin in the sixth over when Khalid was dismissed for 10.

All-rounder Fawad Alam then joined a well-set Shazaib Hasan and the duo scored a dazzling 65-run partnership before Shahzaib became the second victim of Zahir. Shahzaib smashed 66 off just 33 balls with six fours and three sixes. Later, Asad Shafiq (25) joined Fawad (55) and their unbroken stand of 59 runs guided their team to a sizeable target of 168.

The Bahawalpur batsmen fought till the last over in a valiant chase but just fell short by three runs to concede the match to Blues. Opener Mohammad Yasir played a superb innings of 81, the highest individual score in the tournament so far. His innings came off 53 balls with the help of 11 fours and one six.

However, when Bahawalpur’s ace player Faisal Mubashir (7) was dismissed cheaply in the 17th over, their hopes of winning the clash were jolted. Apart from Yasir, Shahan Hassan (21) and Captain Kamran Hussain (20 not out) were the two other notable scorers.

In the last two deliveries 12 runs were required but the captain could score eight of them with two fours. Abdul Ameeer took three wickets after conceding 42 runs while Rumman Raees claimed two wickets for 20 runs. Karachi’s Shahzaib was given man of the match award.

In the second match of the day, Fata outplayed Dera Murad Jamali by six wickets.

After winning the toss, the win-less Dera Murad Jamali’s captain Taimur Ali opted for batting but his team could not set a big target and collapsed at 111 all out in the last over. Only Abid Ali (25) and Nasir Khan (23) offered some resistance against the opponent’s bowling attack. Sohrab Khan and Mohammad Sarwar took two wickets each.

In reply, Fata made shortwork of the chase with Asif Afridi (49) and Khushdil Shah (37) guiding their team to win convincingly by six wickets. Asif was named the man-of-the-match.

Earlier, in the last match on Thursday, Quetta beat AJK by four wickets.

After winning the toss, Quetta invited AJK to bat who collected 144 runs with Irfan Talib scoring 33 from 27 deliveries and captain Abdul Shakoor 27 off 18. Quetta’s Sher Hassan, Mohamamd Adil and Mohammad Irfan took two wickets each.

In reply, Quetta’s batsmen from the very beginning played aggressively to achieve the target in the 15th over and improve their run-rate.

Mohibullah struck 54 off just 30 balls with the help of four fours and four sixes. Captain Jalat Khan (10) and Sher Hassan (11) later accelerated to reach the target easily. Mohibullah was adjudged man-of-the-match.

Friday’s results:

Group ‘B’:

Karachi Blues bt Bahawalpur by three runs.

KARACHI BLUES 168-4 in 20 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 63, Fawad Alam 55 not out, Asad Shafiq 25 not out; Zahir Siddiqui 2-31); BAHAWALPUR 165-5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Yasir 81, Shahan Akram 21, Kamran Hussain 20 not out; Abdul Ameer 3-42, Rumman Raees Khan 2-20).

Fata bt Dera Murad Jamali by six wickets.

DERA MURAD JAMALI 111 in 19.2 overs (Abid Ali 25, Nasir Khan 23; Mohammad Sarwar 2-16, Sohrab Khan 2-24); FATA 112-4 in 17.2 overs (Asad Afridi 49, Khushdil Shah 36; Mohammad Asim Luni 2-16).

Thursday’s remaining result:

Group ‘A’:

Quetta bt Azad Jammu Kashmir by four wickets.

AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 144-6 in 20 overs (Irfan Talib 33, Abdul Shakoor 27 not out, Naveed Malik 20; Mohammad Irfan 2-17, Mohammad Adil 2-18, Sher Hasan 2-25); QUETTA 147-6 in 15 overs (Mohibullah 54, Rameez Raja 18; Irfan Talib 2-27, Saad Altaf 2-28).

Saturday’s fixtures: First semi-final (4:00pm); Second semi-final (8:00pm).

Final Group ‘B’ standings

(Tabulated under: played, won, lost, tied, no result, points, net run-rate): Karachi Blues 3 3 0 0 0 6 +1.067 Bahawalpur 3 2 1 0 0 4 +0.200 Fata 3 1 2 0 0 2 -0.025 DMJ 3 0 3 0 0 0 -1.250

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2015

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