ATTOCK: Bahawalpur, Islam­abad and Peshawar beat their respe­ctive rivals on the opening day of the National Bank of Pakistan T-20 Blind Cricket Trophy 2021 (Grade-1) here in Attock on Saturday.

Syed Sultan Shah, Chairman Pakistan Blind Cricket Council alongwith Ali Anan Qamar Jutt, Deputy Commossioner Attock and Kahwar Bukhari inaugurated the event.

In the first match played at the Attock Cricket Stadium, Lahore was put into bat by Bahawalpur and scored a formidable 202 in allotted 20 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. Salman made 42 runs while Matiullah was second highest with 41. Bahawapur, in reply chased down the target in the last over of the inning, thanks to brilliant 77 by Moeen Ali. Muhammad Rashid was the second highest scorer with 37 runs.

In the second match, which was reduced to 10 overs a side due to rain, Peshawar won the toss sent in Gujranwala who scored 81 for the loss of 5 wickets in 10 overs. Ali Raza made 18. In reply, Peshawar reached the target in 9.3 overs for the loss of four wickets. Haroon Khan was the star batsman for Peshawar with 40 runs.

In the third match, Islamabad won the toss and decided to bat first to score a massive total of 220 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in alloted 20 overs. Anees Javed was the top scorer with a fine, unbeaten 96. Akmal Hayat scored 42 runs. Attock chasing 221, just managed 188 for 7 with Ehtsham ul Haq scored a dazzling 81. Yasir Malik was the pick amongst the bowlers with two wickets

In the last match of the day, played at Comsatas University Cricket Ground in Attock, Okara won the toss and batted. Opener Nisar Ali and Faisal Mehmood played superbly and scored 71 and 48, respectively for AJK who totalled 132 for 1 in 10 overs.

In reply, Okara struggled to make just 76 for 3. Irfan was the top scorer with 27. Irfan Majeed claimed 2 wickets.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2021