KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board’s approach to pit minnows against the big boys in the ongoing national T20 event couldn’t have offered a more contrasting picture when even a second-string Lahore Lions side proved far too tough for Dera Murad Jamali Ibexes to handle.

With the Lions’ main team away in India for the Champions League T20, the ‘B’ side trampled the Ibexes by a huge margin of 122 runs in the Group ‘D’ fixture of the AlBaraka Bank presents Haier T20 Cup here on Monday.

It was simply too much to digest the miserable looks on some of the players wearing the navy blue type of apparel worn by the Ibexes as the game meandered along meaninglessly from ball one.

Although they are not to be faulted, the Ibexes were obviously up for it against opponents who are far superior to them at any level of competition.

The induction of Ibexes and others of equivalent strength in another event makes sense because then they would grasp the experience they lack at the moment to compete at the higher level.

Pitted against fancied outfits won’t do any good for their morale and the PCB is not doing favour to the game except fostering a culture of negativity.

At the post-match presentation Ibexes skipper Taimur Ali highlighted lack of preparations for the demoralising defeat after overseeing his team last 14 overs for a paltry return of 55 runs.

Individually, the Lions cashed in. Kamran Akmal feasted on the fodder-like bowling to bang a dozen boundaries and one six in a feisty 70 from 40 balls as the Lions collected 177-4. It was the Pakistan discard’s 20th 50-plus at this format.

Imam-ul-Haq, the 18-year-old nephew of former national captain and batting great Inzamam-ul-Haq, made his highest T20 score as the left-hander hit a brace of boundaries on his way to scoring 38 from 33 deliveries as he helped Kamran add 63 for the second wicket. Abid Ali also weighed in to make 36 off 27 and hit five boundaries.

Azhar Ali, skippering the Lions, and left-arm seamer Mohammad Aftab both returned career-best figures with three wickets apiece. Najeebullah stood out for beleaguered losers with a 13-ball 22, featuring five fours.

At the time of filing this report the Group ‘C’ fixture between Lahore Eagles and Peshawar Panthers was being played.

Scoreboard

LAHORE LIONS:

Kamran Akmal c Imran Rind b Shabbir70

Azhar Ali lbw b Abid3

Imam-ul-Haq c and b Shabbir38

Abid Ali c Najeebullah b Nadeem36

Hamza Paracha not out18

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-7, W-2, NB-2)12

TOTAL (for four wkts, 20 overs)177

FALL OF WKTS: 1-37, 2-100, 3-134, 4-177.

DID NOT BAT: Fahad-ul-Haq, Junaid Zia, Tanzeel Altaf, Mohammad Irfan, Qaiser Ashraf, Mohammad Aftab.

BOWLING: Faizullah 3-1-30-0; Atif Jabbar 3-0-23-0; Abid Ali 3-0-30-1; Nadeem Javed 4-0-26-1 (1nb, 1w); Shabbir Ali 4-0-30-2 (1w); Imran Rind 3-0-30-0.

DERA MURAD JAMALI IBEXES:

Nadeem Javed c Kamran b Aftab3

Faisal Ahmed c Abid b Aftab4

Taimur Ali b Qaiser0

Asif Ali lbw b Aftab1

Najeebullah run out22

Abid Ali st Kamran b Azhar12

Faizullah b Junaid 4

Imran Khan c and b Azhar4

Imran Rind run out 2

Atif Jabbar b Azhar1

Shabbir Ali not out1

EXTRAS (W-1) 1

TOTAL (all out, 14 overs)55

FALL OF WKTS: 1-6, 2-7, 3-7, 4-30, 5-31, 6-35, 7-43, 8-51, 9-54.

BOWLING: Qaiser Ashraf 2-0-2-1; Mohammad Aftab 3-0-15-3; Junaid Zia 3-0-21-1; Azhar Ali 4-0-10-3 (1w); Mohammad Irfan 2-0-7-0.

RESULT: Lahore Lions by 122 runs.

UMPIRES: Khalid Mahmood and Sajid Afridi.

TV UMPIRE: Tahir Hussain.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwer Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Kamran Akmal.

TUESDAY’S FIXTURES: Bahawalpur Stags vs Dera Murad Jamali Ibexes (9:00am); Faisalabad Wolves vs Azad Jammu Kashmir Jaguars (1:00pm); Islamabad Leopards vs Peshawar Panthers (5:00pm).

Published in Dawn, September 23rd , 2014