KARACHI: Imad Wasim grabbed a hat-trick as Islamabad Leopards whipped Peshawar Panthers by 46 runs at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad to grab their second victory on the trot in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup on Saturday.
Despite being losing their way to collect 134-6 after being 94-1 at one point, the Leopards bowled out the Panthers for 88 in the 16th over.
Zohaib Ahmed and Junaid Nadir took care of the top and middle order batting before Imad sent back Akbar Badshah, Imran Khan and Zohaib Khan in three successive deliveries.
Earlier, Babar Azam struck 55 (from 52 balls with four fours and one six) and Sarwar Khan 32 (off 36 with four boundaries) in the first-wicket partnership of 94.—Sports Reporter
Scoreboard
ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS:
Babar Azam st Rizwan b Zohaib 55
Sarwar Khan c Adil b Iftikhar 33
Zohaib Ahmed c Gauhar b Imran 9
Imad Wasim c and b Zohaib 4
Naeem Anjum run out 2
Junaid Nadir run out 1
Faizan Riaz not out 6
Ali Sarfraz not out 8
EXTRAS (B-5, LB-1, W-8, NB-2) 16
TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 134
FALL OF WKTS: 1-94, 2-99, 3-108, 4-113, 5-113, 6-118.
DID NOT BAT: Moed Ahmed, Umar Gul, Shehzad Azam Rana,
BOWLING: Imran Khan 4-0-16-1 (1nb, 1w); Azam Khan 4-0-18-0; Afaq Ahmed 3-0-31-0 (2w); Zohaib Khan 4-0-21-2; Akbar Badshah 2-0-18-0 (5w); Adil Amin 1-0-11-0; Iftikhar Ahmed 2-0-13-1.
PESHAWAR PANTHERS:
Israrullah b Zohaib 8
Iftikhar Ahmed c Ali b Junaid 18
Gauhar Ali c Naeem b Zohaib 5
Nawaz Ahmed c Naeem b Junaid 6
Adil Amin c Naeem b Zohaib 4
Mohammad Rizwan b Junaid 0
Akbar Badshah st Naeem b Imad 12
Zohaib Khan c Babar b Imad 4
Azam Khan b Shehzad 18
Imran Khan lbw b Imad 0
Afaq Ahmed not out 6
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-3, NB-2) 7
TOTAL (all out, 15.4 overs) 88
FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-35, 3-36, 4-44, 5-48, 6-63, 7-64, 8-64, 9-64.
BOWLING: Umar Gul 2-0-10-0 (1nb); Shehzad Azam Rana 3.4-0-28-1; Zohaib Ahmed 4-0-15-3 (2w); Junaid Nadir 4-0-21-3 (1w); Imad Wasim 2-0-12-3.
RESULT: Islamabad Leopards won by 46 runs.
UMPIRES: Ahmed Shahab and Ijaz Ahmed.
MATCH REFEREE: Shahid Butt.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Imad Wasim.
Munir jump five places to attain top slot
KARACHI: Defending champion Mohammad Munir produced awesome performance by posting a card of five under par 67 in the second round to leap on top of the pros leaderboard in the Rs1.8 million Al Baraka fifth all-Pakistan DHA Open Golf Championship at the Defence Authority Country and Golf Club on Saturday.
Munir, who finished joined sixth with Amjad Yousuf after playing a par round on Friday, adjusted to the playing conditions to jump five places and seize a slender one stroke lead pushing overnight leader Imran Ali Khan to second.
Munir of Islamabad Golf Club fired six birdies on holes 4, 9, 10, 11, 15 and 17 that helped him attain top slot. He bogeyed eighth hole on the front nine. His two-day aggregate comes to five under par 139.
Host club’s little known Imran, who surprised all and sundry by emerging sole leader after first round in presence of country’s top golfers, shot two over par 74 in the second to stay in contention with score of 140, four under par.
Pakistan No 1 Mohammad Shabbir fired five-birdie three under 69 in second round to return with a score of one under par 143, five shots behind the leader.
The CAS Open champion was at joint eighth slot after playing two over 74 on Friday.
Meanwhile, overnight leader Zohaib Asif of the DHA maintained his form grabbing a five shots lead over M. Sharif.
Zohaib, who posted a card of two over 74 the other day to lead by two shots over challenger Sharif, improved by firing one under 71 for a two-day score of one over 145.
He had a dismal start with back-to-back bogeys on first two holes but recovered scoring three birdies one on front nine on hole six and two on back nine on 15 and 17.
Zohaib, who finished fifth last year, is aspiring to make amends by capturing the crown this time.—Anwar Zuberi
Leaderboard after second round:
Pros:
139 – Mohammad Munir (IGC) 72, 67
140 – Imran Ali Khan (DHA) 66, 74
141 – Ashir Masih (Gymkhana) 73, 68
142 – Waheed Baloch (KGC) 71, 71
143 – Mohammad Shabbir (IGC) 74, 69
144 – Mohammad Tahir (Gymkhana) 75, 69; Matloob Ahmed (LGGC) 68, 76; Latif Rafiq (Gymkhana) 68, 76
Amateurs:
145 – Zohaib Asif (DHA) 74, 71
150 – M. Sharif (WWGC) 76, 74
155 – Waseem Rana (DHA) 83, 72
Haas, Evans, Cilic, Phau in Zagreb semis
ZAGREB (Croatia): Top-seeded Tommy Haas fought hard to defeat Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov and reach the semi-finals of the Zagreb Indoors tournament on Friday, while Daniel Evans of Britain upset No. 3 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber from Germany.
Defending champion Marin Cilic also reached the semi-finals -- his fourth in Zagreb -- defeating fellow Croat Ivan Dodig. German qualifier Bjorn Phau beat Dudi Sela of Israel to reach his first semi-finals in nearly five years.
Haas secured a place in his first semi-finals since winning Vienna last October, beating Kuznetsov 7-6 (6), 6-4. Both players kept their serve very solid during the first set and not a single game went to deuce.
Kuznetsov saved two set points before losing the first set, but Haas broke in the opening game of the second set and kept the advantage, having to save two break points leading 2-1.
After reaching the quarter-finals for the first time at any ATP event, the British No. 2, Evans, went one step further Friday ousting Kohlschreiber 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Evans had stepped in after Radek Stepanek withdrew from the tournament with a heel strain.
Evans has won three matches in the main draw and is now the first British player other than Andy Murray who reached the semifinals on a tour-level tournament since James Ward reached the last four at Queen's Club in London in 2011.
Fifth-seeded Cilic converted four out of five break points to beat fourth-seeded Dodig 7-5, 6-4 in just 92 minutes. Cilic now has an 18-1 record in the last five attempts here.
Cilic started strong, leading 5-2 in the first set, before Dodig appeared to fight back winning three games in a row. But Cilic soon broke again before closing the first set.
Phau last played an ATP semi-final in Houston in 2009.
Results:
Men’s Singles
Quarter-finals: 1-Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Andrey Kuznetsov (Russia) 7-6(6) 6-4; Daniel Evans (Britain) bt 3-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-4 2-6 6-4; 5-Marin Cilic (Croatia) bt 4-Ivan Dodig (Croatia) 7-5 6-4; Bjoern Phau (Germany) bt Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-4 6-3.—Agencies
