KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sealed their place in the Pakistan Cup final with a hard-fought victory by a slender margin of eight runs at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Tuesday while sealing Sindh’s fate for the fourth straight time.

After posting 300 all out, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bowlers kept plugging away with wickets at vital junctures to curtail Sindh to 292-9 after Umaid Asif delivered a magnificent last over which started with Sindh requiring 14 runs.

Novice left-hander Imran Rafiq — the 22-year-old from Dera Ghazi Khan — clearly lacked power-hitting ability that cost his team dearly. Imran ended up on an undefeated 62 off 62 balls that included eight boundaries.

With Khyber Pakhtunkhwa winning their third fixture out of four, Balochistan are automatically guaranteed a place in Friday’s final while reducing the remaining two league ties to matches of academic interests.

Sindh’s main hopes depended on Asif Ali to make a major impact. After scores of five and 16 in the first two matches, he made a meaningful contribution in his desperate bid to make the Pakistan squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup. The right-hander scored a 33-ball 42 with the aid of five fours and one six.

The biggest loss for Sindh was the dismissal of in-form Umar Siddique who looked in ominous touch once again with a pugnacious 69 from 65 deliveries with 10 hits to the fence. He was one of three wickets for the underrated slow left-armer Zohaib Khan who also accounted for Umar Amin (32) and the dangerous Hammad Azam (24).

Earlier, Khushdil Shah entertained the sparse turnout during the first half of play as the 24-year-old left-hander scored exactly 100 of the 167 runs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa collected during his stay at the crease.

The hero of the win against Punjab with that unforgettable innings of 154 not out last Friday, the Bannu-born Khushdil faced only 66 deliveries for his eighth hundred in 53 List A matches while striking eight fours and five sixes.

Upfront Khyber Pakhtunkhwa got off to a disastrous start when Umar Gul cleaned up his rival skipper Salman Butt (4) on the fifth ball of the match after electing to bowl first.

Abid Ali played a scratchy innings as the right-hander made only 16 from 34 deliveries before being snapped by left-arm paceman Junaid Khan. Adil Amin (23 off 31 balls) added 44 with Mohammad Saad.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa think-tank then blundered by promoting Wahab Riaz ahead of Khushdil but this ploy backfired as Wahab perished for 18. Khushdil joined Saad with the total on 120-4 in the 27th over but the latter departed after scoring a sedate 69 off 84 balls (six fours and one six).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa then saw Adnan Akmal (8) and Zohaib Khan (13) falling to Hammad Azam as they slid to 207-7 in the 41st over. However, Sohail Khan (22 off 20 balls, two sixes) stayed long enough alongside Khushdil to put on 67 in 44 balls — easily the best stand of the innings — when Junaid came back to dismiss Sohail.

Khushdil was ninth out at 287 when he was held by substitute Ashiq Ali off Mohammad Ilyas.

Ilyas and Hammad were the most successful bowlers with three wickets, while Junaid picked up two.

Scoreboard

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA:

Salman Butt b Umar Gul 4
Abid Ali c Asif b Junaid 16
Mohammad Saad c U. Siddique b Ilyas 69
Adil Amin c Umar Gul b Nauman 23
Wahab Riaz c Asif b Hammad 18
Khushdil Shah c sub b Ilyas 100
Adnan Akmal c Farhan b Hammad 8
Zohaib Khan c Imran b Hammad 13
Sohail Khan c Ilyas b Junaid 22
Mohammad Irfan Jr not out 8
Umaid Asif c Asif b Ilyas 12

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, W-4) 7

TOTAL (all out, 50 overs) 300

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-50, 3-94, 4-120, 5-143, 6-178, 7-207, 8-274, 9-287.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 10-0-64-1 (3w); Nauman Ali 10-0-55-1; Junaid Khan 10-0-52-2 (1w); Mohammad Ilyas 10-1-66-3; Hammad Azam 10-0-60-3.

SINDH:

Umar Siddique c Adnan b Zohaib 69
Sahibzada Farhan c Adnan Irfan Jr 22
Ahsan Ali c Saad b Umaid 16
Umar Amin c Khushdil b Zohaib 32
Asif Ali lbw b Umaid 42
Imran Rafiq not out 62
Hammad Azam b Zohaib 24
Nauman Ali b Wahab 15
Umar Gul b Wahab 1
Mohammad Ilyas run out 1
Junaid Khan not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-2) 8

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 292

FALL OF WKTS: 1-38, 2-66, 3-134, 4-151, 5-199, 6-241, 7-277, 8-281, 9-291.

BOWLING: Sohail Khan 10-0-50-0; Mohammad Irfan Jr 9-0-58-1; Wahab Riaz 10-0-46-2 (1w); Umaid Asif 8-0-57-2 (1w); Zohaib Khan 9-0-50-3; Khushdil Shah 4-0-25-0.

RESULT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won by eight runs.

UMPIRES: Asif Yaqoob and Mohammad Sajid Afridi.

TV UMPIRE: Rashid Riaz.

MATCH REFEREE: Nadeem Arshad.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Khushdil Shah.

WEDNESDAY’S FIXTURE: Balochistan vs Federal Areas (2:00pm PST).

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2019