KARACHI: Former champions Karachi Whites overcame jitters before pulling off a narrow seven-run victory over a plucky Fata outfit in their National T20 Cup fixture in Multan on Thursday.

In the day’s other match staged at the Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan celebrated their second straight success by handing Peshawar a five-wicket defeat to the delight of a sparse evening crowd of around 1,000.

Karachi Whites, who opened their tournament on a losing note against a rampant Sohaib Maqsood on Tuesday, were quite nervy in the field when Fata raced to 79 in the 12th over while chasing a modest target of 131.

But a clatter of wickets put Fata on the back foot from there onwards. The prized scalp of opener Mukhtar Ahmed, who had set the tone with a 45-ball 52 as the discarded Pakistan T20 player smashed five fours and one six.

Paceman Arshad Iqbal, who came into the attack for the 13th over, cleaned up Mukhtar with his very first delivery and then trapped Asad Afridi for a golden duck to have two in two.

Captain Asif Afridi kept Fata hopes alive but it was too late for him to see his side over the line. Asif blasted three sixes and one four in his 22-ball undefeated 33.

Stand-in Karachi skipper Khurram Manzoor, who earlier played a sterling innings, made intelligent changes on the bowling front. His use of Fawad Alam was a masterstroke as the long-discarded Test left-hander grabbed the key wickets of Sohail Akhtar (14) and Samiullah (16) to finish with excellent figures of 2-18 in four overs.

Earlier, man-of-the-match Khurram was mainstay of a struggling Karachi innings after Fata opted to bowl first. Bidding to impress the national selectors after last playing for the country nearly three years ago, Khurram’s 79 from 63 deliveries glaringly stood out as the right-handed opener struck seven fours and a brace of sixes.

Shoaib Malik, who missed the first game against Multan, returned to score a 14-ball 19 with two boundaries while Fawad (14 off 18) was the only other batsman to enter double figures.

Paceman Mohammad Irfan grabbed four wickets for 33 before Karachi Whites reached a disappointing 130-7.

Peshawar, who lost the toss and were predictably asked to bat by Multan skipper Sohaib Maqsood, totalled 132-6 with opener Fawad Khan (40 off 33 balls, two sixes and two fours), Raees Ahmed (36 off 40, two boundaries) and Mohammad Mohsin (33 off 21, two sixes and one fours) being the chief run-getters. Left-armer Mohammad Irfan picked up 2-34 from his four overs.

Multan lost wicket-keeper/batsman Gulraiz Sadaf (1) early in the chase but Sardar Hasan Raza, later named man-of-the-match, batted superbly to strike 67 off 54 balls (four fours and one six) as he and Mohammad Imran (21 off 11. Three boundaries) guided Multan to victory with seven deliveries left.

Slow left-armer Mohammad Junaid bowled well to capture 3-31 in four overs.

Lahore Whites and Multan top the eight-team standings after a brace of victories apiece. They are followed by Karachi Whites, Rawalpindi, Lahore Blues and Peshawar with each of them winning one, while Fata and Islamabad have yet to open their account after two successive losses.

Thursday’s results:

Peshawar bt Multan by five wickets.

MULTAN 132-6 in 20 overs (Fawad Khan 40, Raees Ahmed 36, Mohammad Mohsin 33; Mohammad Irfan 2-34); PESHAWAR 133-5 in 18.5 overs (Sardar Hasan Raza 67, Mohammad Imran not out; Mohammad Junaid 3-31)

Karachi Whites bt Fata by seven runs.

KARACHI WHITES 130-7 in 20 overs (Khurram Manzoor 79, Shoaib Malik 19; Mohammad Irfan Jr 4-33); FATA 123-6 in 20 overs (Mukhtar Ahmed 52, Asif Afridi 33 not out; Fawad Alam 2-18, Arshad Iqbal 2-22)

Friday’s fixtures:

Lahore Whites vs Rawalpindi (9:30am); Lahore Blues vs Islamabad (3:00pm)

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2018