KARACHI: Pakistan stalwarts Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik made an inauspicious return to the National T20 Cup action on Thursday when the veterans were dismissed without scoring during a seven-wicket defeat to Balochistan in the First XI fixture at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

Northern, in the meantime, kept their aspirations alive for the semi-finals by handing Sindh a 66-run drubbing in the evening encounter to celebrate their second triumph in three matches.

But the focus on day five of the competition was firmly on Hafeez and Malik. The two former skippers of the national side skipped the recent series against Sri Lanka as well as the start of the ongoing tournament since they were preoccupied with their Caribbean Premier League commitments after PCB had granted them the NOC.

But their first appearance for Southern Punjab against Balochistan was short-lived when each faced just two deliveries as did skipper Shan Masood who was bowled by upcoming left-arm paceman Akif Javed to the second ball of the match without opening his account after Balochistan captain Haris Sohail opted to insert the opposition into bat.

Shan’s opening partner Hafeez had a dreadful 39th birthday on his 272nd T20 appearance when the impressive Akif slanted one across the right-hander who closed face of his bat and only managed to get an outside edge that was gleefully pouched by Imran Butt at slip.

And although Pakistan discard Sohaib Maqsood (35 off 34 balls, two sixes and two fours) attacked the bowling while adding 40 for the third wicket with Umar Siddique (12), Mohammad Asghar restored parity with double strikes in the eighth over. Umar was bowled before Malik — playing his 358th T20 game — was deceived by a lovely delivery that held it line to hit his right leg in front of the stumps as the 37-year-old went back into his crease instead of playing on the front foot.

At 42-4, it seems Southern Punjab would struggle to cross 100 but Aamir Yamin (27 off 20 balls, two sixes and one four) and Wahab Riaz — who once again came good when it mattered with a 17-ball unbeaten knock of 31 which included three fours and along with a five-ball 12 from Bilawal Bhatti lifted their team to 144-7.

Akif finished with magnificent figures of 3-16 while Asghar claimed 2-27.

Imam-ul-Haq dominated the Balochistan chase with a refined 51 from 39 deliveries (six boundaries) until the Pakistan left-hander was run out. Awais Zia made 22 in the first-wicket stand of 60 with Imam.

It was then left to Haris (25 off 22, three fours) and Imran (28 off 21, four fours) to guide Balochistan to their third victory in three matches.

The man-of-the-match surprisingly went to Imam although Akif was definitely the more deserving candidate of the pair.

Northern, meanwhile, squandered a golden chance of topping 200 after Sohail Akhtar went ballistic in the opening lot of 10 overs after skipper Imad Wasim chose to bat first at the toss. The right-hander made ample use of the chance to bat at No.3 by smashing 63 from just 36 deliveries (six fours and three sixes).

The 33-year-old Sohail, who was named man-of-the-match, scored the bulk of runs during the whirlwind second-wicket stand of 102 in 58 balls with the left-handed Umar Amin (36 off 25 balls, three sixes and two fours) until he was dismissed by unorthodox left-arm spinner Mirza Ahsan Jamil.

Umar got himself tangled in a mix-up with new man Asif Ali to be run out but the latter blasted a 16-ball 30 (three fours and two sixes) and Imad an undefeated 27 (19 balls, two fours and one six) to help Northern reach 191-7.

Sindh needed partnerships upfront to have any chance of winning but after the first wicket was lost at the start of the last over in Powerplay with the score on 44, the chase simply fizzled out in a meek surrender from Asad Shafiq’s men.

Sindh, in fact, lost their last eight wickets for only 60 runs in the space of 56 deliveries to be all out for 125 in 17.4 overs with Ahsan Ali top-scoring with a 20-ball 29 (three fours and one six). Asad and Sarfraz Ahmed made 17 apiece while other double-digit scores came from Khurram Manzoor (16) and Saud Shakeel (15).

Shadab Khan (3-28) and Mohammad Amir (2-18) shared the bowling honours while Haris Rauf excelled in the field with a tumbling catch, diving forward, to get rid of Anwar Ali.

It was Sindh’s second defeat in four matches.

Thursday’s results:

First XI — Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad:

Northern beat Sindh by 66 runs.

NORTHERN 191-7 in 20 overs (Sohail Akhtar 63, Umar Amin 36, Asif Ali 30, Imad Wasim 27 not out; Mohammad Hasnain 2-32); SINDH 125 in (Ahsan Ali 29; Shadab Khan 3-28, Mohammad Amir 2-18)

Balochistan beat Southern Punjab by seven wickets.

SOUTHERN PUNJAB 144-7 in 20 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 35, Wahab Riaz 31 not out, Aamir Yamin 27; Akif Javed 3-16, Mohammad Asghar 2-27); BALOCHISTAN 145-3 in 19.3 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 51, Imran Butt 28 not out, Haris Sohail 25 not out, Awais Zia 22; Zahid Mahmood 2-28).

Second XI — National Stadium, Karachi:

Sindh beat Northern by three wickets.

NORTHERN 140-6 in 20 overs (Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 76; Hassaan Khan 2-24, Mohammad Umar 2-28); SINDH 144-7 in 19.2 overs (Saifullah Khan Bangash 47 not out, Jaahid Ali 31, Saad Khan 23; Raza Hasan 2-19, Salman Irshad 2-30).

Southern Punjab beat Balochistan by seven wickets.

BALOCHISTAN 100 in 19 overs (Fahad Iqbal 22, Gulraiz Sadaf 21; Zia-ul-Haq 4-18, Mohammad Imran 2-18, Zulfiqar Babar 2-33); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 101-3 in 15.3 overs (Mukhtar Ahmed 29, Zeeshan Ashraf 25; Atif Jabbar 2-21).

Friday’s fixtures:

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

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

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2019