ATTOCK: Bahawalpur stunned Islamabad while Azad Kashmir edged past Peshawar in a thriller in the NBP T20 Blind Cricket Trophy Grade I matches played at the Attock Cricket Stadium here on Monday.

Bahawalpur won the toss and sent in Islamabad to bat who scored a handsome 202 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs. Akmal Hayat was their top scorer with unbeaten 76 runs while Ayoub Khan scored a fluent 64. Sajid Nawaz and Babar Ali claimed two wickets each. In reply, Bahawalpur openers batted superbly to overhaul the target in just 17.3 overs and register a 10-wicket win with Moeen Aslam made scoring a brilliant 109 not out. Muhammad Rashid scored an unbeaten 74.

In another match, Gujranwala beat Okara by eight wickets at Comsatas University Cricket Ground, Attock. Okara batting first after being sent in scored 149 for 3. Arslan made an unbeaten 47 not out. In reply, Gujranwala achieved the target of 150 in just 15.2 overs for the loss of 2 wickets. Muhammad Akram was the star batsman for Gujranwala scoring 79 not out. Badar Munir grabbed two wickets. Akram was adjudged Man of the Match.

In the third match of the day, Azad Kashmir beat Peshawar by just four runs in a thrilling clash at Attock Cricket Stadium. Azad Kashmir won the toss and batted. They set a competitive total of 216 for 5 with Muhammad Tahsin scoring a fine 100 Faisal Mahmood scored 52.

In reply, Peshawar played superbly but fell just four runs short at 212 for 3. Sanaullah Khan was the top scorer with an unbeaten 93 not out while Mohsin Khan made a breezy 89.. Muhammad Jamil took 2 wickets.

In the last match of the day, Lahore beat Attock at Comsatas University Cricket Ground in Attock. Batting first, Attock scored 192 for 4 in their 20 overs. Ehtisham-ul-Haq made a fluent 47 and Bilal Sarwar scored an unbeaten 45 not out. Muhammad Salman bagged two wickets. Lahore in reply chased down the target in just 15 overs for the loss of 1 wicket with Muhammad Salman leading the way with an unbeaten 80 not out. Kamran Akhter scored 75.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2021