KARACHI. Fine batting by Fahaddis Bukhari and Bahadur Ali inspired Karachi to the Karachi Kings Sindh Ke Shehzade T20 title with a five-wicket win against Hyderabad in the final at the Lawai Cricket Stadium here on Friday night.

After dismissing Hyderabad for 140 on the last ball of the innings with slow left-armer Mohammad Salman grabbing five wickets for 29, Karachi knocked off the required target in 18.5 overs.

Daniyal Rajput was main run-getter for Hyderabad with a 39-ball 34 (two fours and one six) while Asif Mahmood contributed 32 off 14 balls with four fours and one six.

Karachi began their chase shakily and were struggling at 84-5 before Fahaddis and Bahadur stemmed the rot in an unbroken partnership of 57 while powering their side to victory with seven deliveries to spare.

Fahaddis scored 47 of 43 Balls with the aid of four boundaries and Bahadur hit up 32 from 24 balls while striking a brace of sixes and as many fours.

Honourable Sindh Governor Imran Ismail graced the occasion as the chief guest in a glittering post-match ceremony which was attended by Mayor of Karachi Waseem Akhtar, former Pakistan captains Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi.

Karachi captain Haris Ali Khan collected the winners’ trophy plus a handsome cash prize of Rs500,000.

Hyderabad were awarded the runners-up trophy and Rs250,000.

Ammad Alam pocketed Rs15,000 after being declared the best batsman of the competition for scoring 223 runs in five matches. Besides the man-of-the-final prize Salman also bagged Rs15,000 for being the best bowler with 14 wickets.

Haris won the best fielder award for holding six catches, Daniyal Rajput won the best all-rounder prize (187 runs and four wickets) and Owais was adjudged the best wicket-keeper.

In a brief speech, the Governor Sindh appreciated the efforts of Karachi Kings management for organising such a wonderful event for the budding cricketers of Sindh.

“I really appreciate Karachi Kings for staging such a great tournament which paved the way for youngsters to showcase their talent,” he said.

Afridi remarked Sindh has immense talent but there is a need to find them and horn their skills, while stressing the need for establishing cricket academies all over Sindh to promote cricket further.

“We can get more talented players to represent Pakistan at the higher level but for that we must build academies with proper facilities,” Afridi said.

Younis, in his speech, applauded the players who came from far away just to show their spirit and commitment.“The youngsters in the country need some tournaments like this to get their skills improved,” Younis added.

Owner of Karachi Kings Salman Iqbal congratulated the winning team and appreciated the management for providing such an excellent platform for the youngsters to shine.

“It never ceases to amaze us just how much talent there is in Pakistan. Every talent hunt that we have conducted has brought forth a new breed of athletes, each unique in their own way,” he said.

Ex-Pakistan captain and Karachi Kings team director Rashid Latif was present on the occasion.

Summarised scores:

Final: Karachi beat Hyderabad by five wickets

HYDERABAD 140 in 20 overs (Daniyal Rajput 34, Asif Mahmood 32; Mohammad Salman 5-29, Abrar Ahmed 2-16); KARACHI 141-5 in 18.5 overs (Fahaddis Bukhari 47 not out, Bahadur Ali 32 not out, Ammad Alam 19; Mohammad Waqar 2 -24).

Last league tie: Sukkur beat Nawabshah by 30 runs.

SUKKUR 154-9 in 20 overs (Arsalan Farzand 76, Haider Abbas 37; Rabish Ahmed 2-24); NAWABSHAH 124-9 in 20 overs (Abdul Rehman 40 not out; Ali Asghar 2-17, Mehroz Abbasi 2-17, Shahnawaz Dhanani 2-9).

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2018