KARACHI: Ahmed Shehzad staged a dramatic reversal in personal form with an unbeaten century as Central Punjab successfully chased down an imposing Northern total to celebrate their first victory in the First XI event of the National T20 Cup in Faisalabad on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old opener, who made a dreadful return to the Pakistan team during the recent 3-0 Twenty20 International series defeat against Sri Lanka in Lahore last week with scores of 4 and 13 before being axed, anchored the chase with 111 at the Iqbal Stadium.

Central Punjab were in serious problems in pursuit of the 223-run target after losing captain Babar Azam to an injudicious shot in the second over. The world’s top-ranked T20 batsman, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Tuesday, holed out to Asif Ali in the deep off Northern skipper Imad Wasim for four.

Kamran Akmal added more pressure in the Central Punjab dugout when the ex-Pakistan wicket-keeper, having hit his first ball for a six, was bowled by Imad. Rizwan Hussain contributed an eight-ball 20 (three fours and one six) while putting on 63 for the third wicket with Shehzad before fast bowler Haris Rauf scalped the upcoming left-hander.

Umar Akmal, who like Shehzad flopped against Sri Lanka with back-to-back golden ducks, provided Imad a third wicket by hitting straight down the throat of Sohail Akhtar who was stationed at long-on after scoring just 10.

However, Saad Nasim arrived to play a sensible knock of 29 (20 balls, three fours and one six) with the fifth-wicket stand with the well-set Shehzad yielding 80 runs before Saad fell to the wayward Sohail Tanvir.

Faheem Ashraf eased load on Shehzad’s shoulders with a 16-ball cameo of 28 (two sixes and one four) as the pair added 57. Shehzad, in the meantime, brought up is fifth T20 hundred off 56 deliveries by flicking Haris to the square-leg boundary.

Shehzad, who was named man-of-the-match, adorned his 63-ball innings with 13 boundaries and three sixes.

Imad finished with tidy figures of 3-38 but Sohail had a forgetful afternoon with 2-49 in 3.5 overs.

Earlier, Asif stole thunder after Imad chose to bat first with a buccaneering 93 from just 35 balls as the Pakistan right-hander hoisted 10 sixes — including three in succession against Faheem — and four fours to enable Northern post 222-6.

Mohammad Nawaz weighed in with a 35-ball 50 that included four sixes and one four as the left-handed all-rounder shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 107 with Asif.

Umar Amin wasted a great chance to make a significant score as the discarded Pakistan left-hander departed for a 32-ball 38 (three fours and two sixes), while Imad thrashed a brace of sixes and as many fours in a five-ball 22 not out in the final over of the innings.

Faheem picked up three wickets but gave away 44 runs.

In the day’s evening fixture, Saif Badar underlined his vast potential with a crucial career-best contribution and seasoned Wahab Riaz excelled with a superb all-round effort as Southern Punjab also sealed a four-wicket success over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to infuse new life into the competition.

Opting to bat first, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were heading for a modest score when Wahab’s third wicket left them in strife at 51-4. But skipper Mohammad Rizwan (45 off 40 balls, four fours and one six) and young Khushdil Shah, who finished undefeated with a 32-ball 56 (five fours and two sixes) came together to share a stand worth 83 runs.

After his brilliant bowling spell, Wahab changed the complexion of the game with a much-needed cameo in the closing overs after Saif and Aamir Yamin (15) kept Southern Punjab’s hopes alive with a vital partnership of 55 after the first five wickets went down with 51 runs on the board.

Saif, 21, was denied the chance of scoring his maiden T20 50 but his 35-ball 49 (four fours and one six) together with man-of-the-match Wahab’s decisive 17-ball 42 (five fours and two sixes) carried Southern Punjab over the line with nine deliveries to spare.

Tuesday’s results:

First XI — Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad:

Southern Punjab beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by four wickets.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 154-5 in 20 overs (Khushdil Shah 56 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 45, Sahibzada Farhan 27; Wahab Riaz 3-28); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 155-6 in 18.3 overs (Saif Badar 49 not out, Wahab Riaz 42 not out, Sohaib Maqsood 24, Mohammad Mohsin 3-37).

Central Punjab beat Northern by four wickets.

NORTHERN 222-6 in 20 overs (Asif Ali 93, Mohammad Nawaz 50, Umar Amin 38, Imad Wasim 22 not out; Faheem Ashraf 3-44); CENTRAL PUNJAB 226-6 in 19.5 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 111 not out, Saad Nasim 29, Faheem Ashraf 28, Rizwan Hussain 20; Imad Wasim 3-38, Sohail Tanvir 2-49).

Second XI — National Stadium, Karachi:

Southern Punjab beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by three wickets.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 197-6 in 20 overs (Nabi Gul 94, Kamran Ghulam 23; Mohammad Imran 3-22); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 199-7 in 19.4 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 52, Zain Abbas 47, Mohammad Mohsin 30; Khalid Usman 2-36).

Northern beat Central Punjab by 19 runs.

NORTHERN 162 in 20 overs (Sarmad Bhatti 47, Faizan Riaz 34, Nauman Ali 33; Raza Ali Dar 7-29, Aizaz Cheema 2-30); CENTRAL PUNJAB 143-9 in 20 overs (Usman Salahuddin 27, Mohammad Saad 24, Nauman Anwar 23; Usama Mir 3-31, Raza Hasan 2-19, Sadaf Hussain 2-26).

Wednesday’s fixtures:

First XI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Sindh (1:30pm); Central Punjab vs Balochistan (5:30pm).

Second XI: Sindh vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (9:30am); Balochistan vs Central Punjab (1:30pm).

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2019