KARACHI: Rawalpindi Rams have all but sealed their semi-final berth in the Cool & Cool presents Haier Super 8 T20 Cup by completing a 27-run win against Sialkot Stallions in the Wednesday night Group ‘A’ fixture at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

The Rams, who defeated Abbottabad Falcons in the tournament opener by six wickets on Monday, defended their total of 152 brilliantly once Mohammad Amir had cleaned up Stallions skipper Shoaib Malik (1) early in the chase.

Malik, who had smashed a 49-ball 95 not out against Peshawar Panthers on Monday night, lasted just seven deliveries when he was outdone by Amir in the fourth over.

Even a lucky break at the very beginning of the innings didn’t inspire the Stallions; opener Mukhtar Ahmed edged the first ball from Sohail Tanvir but TV replay found that the Rams’ skipper had overstepped.

Spinners Mohammad Asghar, in particular, and Samiullah stifled the opposing batsmen of whom only Ayaz Tasawwar managed to break the shackles while hitting his maiden T20 half-century.

Ayaz, the 24-year-old left-hander from Sheikhupura, scored all the 41 runs his side collected after the ninth wicket fell at 86. He finished on 64 from 50 balls with the aid of four sixes ad five boundaries.

Asghar returned career-best figures of 3-29 in four overs to claim the man-of-the-match award, while Samiullah grabbed two wickets for only nine runs from his two overs.

Earlier, Pakistan seamer Bilawal Bhatti bowled well to take 4-27 and leg-spinner Usama Mir snared 3-21 as four Rams batsmen crossed the 20-run mark but none got more than 32 (33 balls, three sixes and two fours) made by opener Khurram Shehzad.

Scoreboard

RAWALPINDI RAMS:

Naved Malik b Sultan 13 Khurram Shehzad st Ahmed b Usama 32 Tayyab Riaz c and b Bilawal 11 Zahid Mansoor c Mukhtar b Usama 27 Hammad Azam c Haris b Usama 0 Mohammad Nawaz c Malik b Bilawal 28 Sohail Tanvir c Nauman b Najaf 4 Jamal Anwar b Bilawal 21 Mohammad Amir c Sultan b Bilawal 4 Samiullah not out 0 Mohammad Asghar run out 1

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-6, NB-2) 11

TOTAL (all out, 20 overs) 152

FALL OF WKTS: 1-23, 2-34, 3-82, 4-82, 5-101, 6-112, 7-133, 8-151, 9-151.

BOWLING: Najaf Shah 4-0-43-1 (1nb, 1w); Sultan Ahmed 4-0-27-1 (4w); Bilawal Bhatti 4-0-27-4; Usama Mir 4-0-21-3; Shoaib Malik 4-0-31-0 (1w).

SIALKOT STALLIONS:

Mukhtar Ahmed c Jamal b Sohail 5 Nauman Anwar run out 15 Shoaib Malik b Amir 1 Haris Sohail c Sohail b Asghar 6 Ayaz Tasawwar not out 64 Ali Khan b Hammad 6 Sultan Ahmed c Hammad b Samiullah 12 Bilawal Bhatti st Jamal b Asghar 1 Ahmed Butt c Nawaz b Asghar 1 Usama Mir c Asghar b Samiullah 11 Najaf Shah not out 0

EXTRAS (W-1, NB-4) 5

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs) 127

FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-18, 3-30, 4-31, 5-43, 6-69, 7-71, 8-73, 9-86.

BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 4-0-21-1 (1nb); Mohammad Amir 4-0-32-1 (1w); Mohammad Asghar 4-0-29-3; Zahid Mansoor 4-0-23-0 (1nb); Hammad Azam 2-0-13-1; Samiullah 2-0-9-2.

RESULT: Rawalpindi Rams won by 25 runs.

UMPIRES: Ghaffar Kazmi and Sajid Afridi.

TV UMPIRE: Riazuddin.

MATCH REFEREE: Aziz-ur-Rehman.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Asghar.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2015

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