KARACHI: Khushdil Shah celebrated his inclusion in the Australia-bound Pakistan T20 squad with a match-winning knock as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sealed the remaining semi-final berth in the National T20 Cup by handing Central Punjab a seven-wicket defeat in Faisalabad on Tuesday.

After a century partnership between skipper Babar Azam and Umar Akmal guided Central Punjab to 177-3 in the penultimate First XI league-round fixture at the Iqbal Stadium, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reached 182-3 with two balls to spare as Khushdil shared an unbroken stand of 72 in 42 deliveries with Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman.

Khushdil, the left-hander from Bannu, vanquished Central Punjab’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage in style when he hoisted seamer Faheem Ashraf for successive sixes after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa started the match in last spot. They eventually secured just their second success that pushed them to fourth place on superior net run-rate to that already-eliminated Sindh, while Central Punjab were relegated to the bottom in the six-team standings.

Khushdil, who was declared man-of-the-match, blasted 46 from only 26 deliveries with the aid of three sixes and three fours. Fakhar finished with a 54-ball 82, featuring seven boundaries and a brace of sixes, after having earlier shared partnerships of 45 with fellow opener Sahibzada Farhan (17) and 62 with Iftikhar Ahmed (19).

Put into bat by Mohammad Rizwan, Central Punjab cashed in on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s sloppy work in the field as Babar and Umar both escaped being run out while several other opportunities were also missed. It was an irony a run out eventually broke the third-wicket stand of 111 from 68 balls when Babar failed to make his ground after being sent back by his partner.

Until that moment Central Punjab were seemingly heading for a 200-plus total with Babar, who scored 83 off 56 balls (five fours and four sixes), looking in great touch while eyeing his second century of the competition.

Umar remained unbeaten with a rapid 37-ball 53 which included four sixes and two fours.

With both Northern and Balochistan already through to the semi-finals, the top-of-the-table clash in the evening match decided their final standings. Northern won that battle quite easily as Islamabad-born youngsters Ali Imran and Rohail Nazir both notched up their maiden half-centuries in the shortest format to inspire their side home by seven wickets in 17 overs.

The 21-year-old Ali, playing just his fourth T20, played some delightful strokes as the right-handed opener struck 65 off 37 deliveries (eight fours and two sixes) while adding 105 from 66 balls for the third wicket with Rohail after the in-form Umar Amin (0) and Sohail Akhtar (8) were back in the dugout with 18 runs on the board.

Rohail, the 18-year-old Pakistan Under-19 captain, hit an unbeaten 56 with his 46 ball knock containing four boundaries and three sixes to underline his growth as a wicket-keeper/batsman as Northern celebrated their fourth win in five outings.

Earlier Balochistan, sent into bat by Northern captain Imad Wasim, made great recovery after being reduced to 97-7 in the 16th over to post 155-8 on the back of Hussain Talat’s undefeated innings of 77 (off 51 balls, seven fours and two sixes). Opener Awais Zia contributed 23-ball 31 (five fours and one six).

Umar Gul (13) also played a key role as he helped Hussain put on 44 for the eighth wicket, while Pakistan spinner Shadab Khan snared four wickets for 26 runs with Mohammad Amir and Sohail Tanvir taking two wickets apiece. Imad, surprisingly, didn’t bowl his slow left-armers at all.

In the Second XI tournament at the National Stadium in Karachi, Northern defeated Balochistan by five wickets to make the last-four stage, where they take on Sindh after unbeaten Southern Punjab meet Central Punjab in the first semi-final.

Tuesday’s results:

First XI — Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad:

Northern beat Balochistan by seven wickets.

BALOCHISTAN 155-8 in 20 overs (Hussain Talat 77 not out, Awais Zia 31; Shadab Khan 4-26, Mohammad Amir 2-37, Sohail Tanvir 2-39); NORTHERN 156-3 in 17 overs (Ali Imran 65, Rohail Nazir 56 not out).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Central Punjab by seven wickets.

CENTRAL PUNJAB 177-3 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 83, Umar Akmal 53 not out); KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 182-3 in 19.4 overs (Fakhar Zaman 82 not out, Khushdil Shah 46 not out).

Second XI — National Stadium, Karachi:

Northern beat Balochistan by five wickets.

BALOCHISTAN 147-7 in 20 overs (Nazar Hussain 39 not out; Raza Hasan 2-22, Nauman Ali 2-31); NORTHERN 151-5 in 17 overs (Zeeshan Malik 37, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 37, Nauman Ali 26, Faizan Riaz 21; Nazar Hussain 2-32).

Central Punjab beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by six wickets.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 148-9 in 20 overs (Asad Afridi 43, Mehran Ibrahim 31; Ehsan Adil 3-16, Bilawal Iqbal 2-33, Raza Ali Dar 2-39); CENTRAL PUNJAB 149-4 in 16.4 overs (Mohammad Saad 59 not out, Nauman Anwar 50, Raza Ali Dar 21 not out; Sameen Gul 2-23).

Wednesday’s fixtures:

Semi-finals:

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

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

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2019