KARACHI: Azad Jammu Kashmir Jaguars marked their debut in the mainstream domestic cricket on a losing note as Islamabad Leopards cruised home by 34 runs in their Group ‘C’ opener of the AlBaraka Bank presents Haier T20 Cup here on Monday.

Initially, the Jaguars did well to restrict their much stronger rivals to 149-5 after skipper Raheel Majeed decided to take advantage of a fresh National Stadium pitch after having won the toss.

At the halfway point, the Leopards had limped to 62-4 before Imad Wasim (27 off 17 with back-to-back sixes off spinner Abdul Shakoor) and Zohaib Ahmed (46 not out, 33 balls, five boundaries) added 45.

The Jaguars were energetic in the field with wicket-keeper Iqbal Akram bringing off two fine stumpings.

But when they came in for the chase, the Jaguars were at sea against a quality attack led by Leopards’ captain Umar Gul. Raza Hasan, bidding to catch the selectors’ attention after a lean period on the sideline, bagged three for 16 to claim the man-of-the-match.

Paceman Shehzad Azam Rana also took three wickets, while Umar bowled within himself to dismiss Iqbal Akram.

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS:

Afaq Raheem c Adil b Naqqash20

Shan Masood lbw b Naqqash14

Babar Azam st Iqbal b Arsalan9

Ali Sarfraz c Naqqash b Arsalan8

Imad Wasim st Iqbal b Shakoor27

Zohaib Ahmed not out46

Naeem Anjum not out13

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-7, NB-2)12

TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs)149

FALL OF WKTS: 1-27, 2-45, 3-49, 4-59, 5-104.

DID NOT BAT: Umar Gul, Junaid Nadir, Raza Hasan, Shehzad Azam Rana.

BOWLING: Saad Altaf 4-0-23-0 (2w); Imran Arif 4-0-39-0 (1nb, 1w); Naqqash Basharat 4-0-24-2 (2w); Irfan Talib 2-0-18-0 (1w); Arsalan Arif 4-0-20-2; Abdul Shakoor 2-0-22-1.

AJK JAGUARS:

Raheel Majeed run out4

Adil Gulbahar run out16

Hasan Raza Jr b Shehzad28

Irfan Talib c Shehzad b Raza15

Ghulam Murtaza c Shan b Raza11

Abdul Shakoor c Babar b Raza16

Iqbal Akram c Naeem b Umar Gul4

Imran Arif not out4

Arsalan Arif c Zohaib b Junaid9

Naqqash Basharat n Shehzad4

Saad Altaf b Shehzad1

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-1)3

TOTAL (all out, 19 overs)115

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-37, 3-55, 4-69, 5-91, 6-97, 7-97, 8-109, 9-113.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 3-0-12-1; Junaid Nadir 3-0-24-1; Shehzad Azam Rana 4-0-31-3; Raza Hasan 4-0-16-3 (1w); Imad Wasim 4-0-19-0; Zohaib Ahmed 1-0-11-0.

RESULT: Islamabad Leopards won by 34 runs.

UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Shozab Raza.

TV UMPIRE: Riazuddin.

MATCH REFEREE: Aziz-ur-Rehman.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Raza Hasan.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd , 2014