KARACHI: Mohammad Imran was an unlikely saviour for Punjab with a last-ball dismissal of Sindh’s Adnan Akmal to conjure up a sensational tie in the final league-round fixture of the Cool & Cool presents Pepsi Pakistan Cup on Friday.

After Asif Ali had lit up a dull and overcast afternoon at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad with a buccaneering career-best innings of 138 as Punjab posted 310-9, Sindh needed a single to seal victory when Adnan was brilliantly run out at the non-striker end by bowler Imran, who dived in a famous Jonty Rhodes style to catch the wicket-keeper/batsman short of the crease.

While the focus now shifts to Sunday’s final between the unbeaten Federal Areas, who will defend their title against inaugural Pakistan Cup champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the last game on Friday in the end was far from being an inconsequential affair.

Punjab got off to a decent beginning upfront as Sahibzada Farhan set the pace with another stroke-filled knock.

The young right-hander slammed 10 boundaries and one six in making 73 from 69 balls after Shoaib Malik chose to skip the match.

Farhan and Malik’s replacement Abdul Samad (28) added 84 for the opening stand but it was Asif who really came to the party in front of his home crowd — which to be honest was barely a handful of people — as the 26-year-old right-hander collected 98 of his runs from only 21 shots in the shape of 14 fours and seven sixes while facing a total of just 91 balls.

But despite producing such a fine knock, Asif ended up finishing on the losing side once again as he did against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last Saturday when the Pakistan T20 representative scored 121.

He was caught by Gauhar Ali off Bilal Asif — three for 51 in 10 overs — at the start of the final over of the innings.

Sindh’s chase began shakily when Gauhar attempted to hit discarded Test pacer Imran Khan out of the ground but was cleaned up for five. Captain Umar Amin struggled to make 14 from 28 balls before Salman Butt and Iftikhar Ahmed put on 79 for the third wicket.

At this point, Salman was crestfallen at being adjudged LBW by umpire Asif Yaqoob despite TV replays suggesting the leg-break from Usama Mir would have missed the left-hander’s leg-stump. Nevertheless, Salman had batted serenely to strike 17 exquisite boundaries during his 91-ball of 101 effort after having completed his 22nd List A century in 88 deliveries.

Iftikhar should have reached a seventh one-day century, and his second of this tournament, but a rush of blood saw him stumped by Mohammad Rizwan off Usama for a 94-ball 95 that was embedded with nine fours and a brace of sixes.

Usama also got rid of the left-handers Fawad Alam (38 off 36 balls, three fours and one six) and Danish Aziz (1) to return his best one-day figures of 4-62 in 10 overs.

The flurry of late wickets infused some excitement before dropped catch saw the ball rolling over the line for a four when Sindh needed 10 from the last over.

Scoreboard

PUNJAB:

Sahibzada Farhan c Danish b Bilal 73

Abdul Samad c Fawad b Taj 28

Mohammad Rizwan c Iftikhar b Bilal 21

Asif Ali c Gauhar b Bilal 138

Ashfaq Ahmed b Fawad 15

Sohail Akhtar c Gauhar b Iftikhar 15

Mohammad Imran c Iftikhar b Asghar 6

Mohammad Sami run out 2

Usama Mir c Aamir b Taj 0

Kashif Bhatti not out 4

M. Imran Khan not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-3, NB-1) 7

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 310

FALL OF WKTS: 1-84, 2-118, 3-123, 4-179, 5-236, 6-258, 7-282, 8-305, 9-305.

BOWLING: Aamir Yamin 5-0-37-0 (1w); Mohammad Asghar 10-1-25-1 (1w); Taj Wali 10-0-83-2 (1nb, 1w); Bilal Asif 10-0-51-3; Fawad Alam 7-0-51-1; Danish Aziz 1-0-14-0; Iftikhar Ahmed 7-0-46-1.

SINDH:

Salman Butt lbw b Usama 101

Gauhar Ali b Imran Khan 5

Umar Amin c and Ashfaq 14

Iftikhar Ahmed st Rizwan b Usama 95

Fawad Alam b Usama 38

Danish Aziz c Rizwan b Usama 1

Adnan Akmal run out 19

Bilal Asif not out 21

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, W-9, NB-2) 16

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 310

FALL OF WKTS: 1-21, 2-81, 3-160, 4-256, 5-264, 6-273, 7-310.

DID NOT BAT: Aamir Yamin, Mohammad Asghar, Taj Wali

BOWLING: Mohammad Imran Khan 9-0-55-1 (1nb, 5w); Mohammad Sami 5-0-43-0 (2w); Mohammad Imran 6-0-43-0 (1nb); Kashif Bhatti 10-0-43-0; Ashfaq Ahmed 10-0-59-1 (1w); Usama Mir 10-0-62-4 (1nb).

RESULT: Match tied.

UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Asif Yaqoob.

TV UMPIRE: Waleed Yaqub.

MATCH REFEREE: Nadeem Arshad.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Asif Ali.

SUNDAY’S FINAL: Federal Areas vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2:30pm PST).

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2018