RAWALPINDI: An Adil Amin’s pulled six on the penultimate ball of the match earned Peshawar a pulsating win which put Lahore Whites on doors of an early exit from the Cool & Cool presents Haier Mobile T20 Cup here on Friday.

Playing like the defending champions they are, Peshawar’s third straight success not only lifted Zohaib Khan’s side to the top of Group ‘B’ standings but brought an end to Lahore Whites’ charge towards the trophy they were looking to win given the star-studded value of their team.

The Pindi Cricket Stadium produced an enthralling game before Adil calmly hoisted seam bowling all-rounder Hussain Talat over deep square leg to condemn Lahore Whites to their second defeat in three matches.

And if the Sarfraz Ahmed-led Karachi Blues succeed in defeating Islamabad in Friday’s last fixture under lights — with a playing XI that includes Pakistan T20 captain Shahid Afridi for the first time in this competition — they will also join Peshawar with three successive victories and definitely rule any faint hopes of Lahore Whites progressing to the last-four stage.

Even Mohammad Irfan’s best T20 analysis of 4-16 in four overs failed to save Lahore Whites from a heartbreaking loss. The giant left-arm speedster took a wicket in each of his first three overs.

Peshawar rallied from 56-4 in the eight over thanked to a splendid 68-run stand between man-of-the-match Iftikhar Ahmed (59 off 39 balls with four fours and three sixes) and Adil who ended up making 38 from 32 balls with two sixes and one four as Peshawar reached 167-7 in 19.5 overs.

Earlier, Ahmed Shehzad (59 off 42 balls, 11 boundaries) and Hussain Talat (a career-best 64 not out off 39 balls, five fours and three sixes) played major knocks as Lahore Whites collected 165-5.

Left-armer Imran Khan Jr enhanced his growing reputation as deceptive seam bowler with the scalps of Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal off consecutive deliveries to peg back Lahore Whites’ charge for late flurry of runs.

One disastrous over from paceman Ahmed Jamal cost Abbottabad their Group ‘B’ match against Faisalabad at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. Chasing 179, Faisalabad were struggling at 141-7 after 17 overs.

But the next over saw Imran Khalid (26 off 18 balls, four boundaries) and Ehsan Adil (unbeaten 14 off 3) take apart the wayward Ahmed who gave away 24 runs in the 18th over before Faisalabad celebrated their first success in three fixtures by just two wickets.

Man-of-the-match Khurram Shehzad (59 off 39, five fours and three sixes) and Asif Ali (45 off 31, four fours and two sixes) shared a decisive partnership of 106 after Junaid Khan had sent back both the openers in the first over of the chase.

Earlier, Yasir Hameed (59 off 40, five fours and two sixes) and the promoted Sajjad Ali (a career-best 56 off 36, four sixes and four fours) put on 95 for the second wicket before Younis Khan’s team posted 178-7.

In the day’s first match at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, Multan kept alive their semi-final aspirations by cantering to their third triumph in four Group ‘A’ games as their neighbours Bahawalpur went down by 33 runs.

Karachi Whites, inspired by career-best contributions from skipper Faisal Iqbal (60 off 43 balls with eight boundaries) and left-arm paceman Mir Hamza (4-28) ended their winless streak in the completion with a 60-run defeat of Hyderabad at the Diamond Club Ground.

Nasir Jamshed, the guest player from Lahore, rewrote the record books by making the highest individual score for Rawalpindi who secured a crucial Group ‘A’ victory Karachi Whites at the Pindi Cricket Stadium late on Thursday night.

After being set a daunting target of 206, Karachi Whites made a valiant attempt to get there but fell short by 14 runs to lose their third straight game.

The left-handed contributed 104 – surpassing the previous best score by a Rawalpindi batsman which belonged to Awais Zia who made 100 not out against Fata Cheetahs in last year’s championship at Karachi.

Nasir’s 61-ball knock, featuring 13 boundaries and two sixes, usurped his previous best T20 score of an unconquered 86 in 2012.

It was the second time in three days Karachi Whites saw an opposition batsman reaching three figures against them. In Wednesday’s fixture at the same venue, Sialkot opener Mukhtar Ahmed hammered a record-breaking 123.

Umar Amin compiled 52 (32 balls, four fours and two sixes) as he and Nasir put on 116 to give their side the impetus they needed.

Rameez Raja threatened to challenge that total with a 48-ball 77 (nine fours and three sixes) but it was seldom enough for Karachi Whites who replied with 191-6. Mohammad Amir returned decent figures of 2-21 in four overs.

Friday’s results:

Group ‘A’:

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Multan beat Bahawalpur by 33 runs.

MULTAN 169-3 in 20 overs (Zain Abbas 57, Imran Farhat 46 Sohaib Maqsood 29, Naved Yasin 26 not out); BAHAWALPUR 136-4 in 20 overs (Riasat Ali 63, Faisal Mubashir 35; Aamir Yamin 2-28).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Karachi Whites beat Hyderabad by 60 runs.

KARACHI WHITES 173-7 in 20 overs (Faisal Iqbal 60, Rameez Raja 37, Ahsan Ali 30, Mohammad Waqas 24; Lal Kumar 2-28, Nasir Awais 2-32); HYDERABAD 113 in 15 overs (Shoaib Leghari 51, Nauman Ali 20; Mir Hamza 4-28, Junaid Ilyas 2-28).

Group ‘B’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Faisalabad beat Abbottabad by two wickets.

ABBOTTABAD 178-7 in 20 overs (Yasir Hameed 59, Sajjad Ali 56, Sohail Akhtar 28, Younis Khan 22; Ehsan Adil 3-33, Zahoor Khan 2-31); FAISALABAD 179-8 in 19.3 overs (Khurram Shehzad 59, Asif Ali 45, Imran Khalid 26; Junaid Khan 4-24, Kamran Ghulam 2-25, Yasir Shah 2-33).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Peshawar beat Lahore Whites by three wickets.

LAHORE WHITES 165-3 in 20 overs (Hussain Talat 64 not out, Ahmed Shehzad 59, Azhar Ali 20; Imran Khan Jr 2-25); PESHAWAR 167-7 in 19.5 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 59, Adil Amin 39 not out, Mohammad Irfan 4-16, Mustafa Iqbal 2-41).

Thursday’s remaining result:

Group ‘A’:

Rawalpindi beat Karachi Whites by 14 runs.

RAWALPINDI 205-3 in 20 overs (Nasir Jamshed 104 not out, Umar Amin 52); KARACHI WHITES 191-6 in 20 overs (Rameez Raja 77, Ahsan Ali 37, Faisal Iqbal 29; Mohammad Amir 2-21).

Saturday’s fixtures:

Lahore Whites vs Karachi Blues (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad, 10:00am); Karachi Whites vs Multan (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, 12:00noon); Peshawar vs Abbottabad (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad, 2:00pm); Islamabad vs Faisalabad (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, 4:00pm); Rawalpindi vs Sialkot (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, 8:00pm).

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2015

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