MULTAN: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continued their dominance in the National T20 Cup as they reached the third final in in as many years after overpowering Northern by five wickets in the first semi-final here at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had won both the previous finals they played.

A 89-run opening wicket partnership between Sahibzada Farhan and Rehan Afridi and 37 runs from Mohammad Sarwar Afridi at the crucial juncture of the match saw defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through to the final with one over to spare.

Chasing 165 to win, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa openers Farhan and Rehan provided a flying start to the innings as both right-handed batters scored 57 runs in the powerplay. Wicketkeeper-batter Rehan struck seven fours and one six and top-scored with a 39-ball 54. Farhan — who scored a match winning century against Balochistan — scored 39 off 29 balls, smashing two sixes and a four.

For Northern, Zaman Khan struck twice in the 16th over of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s batting when he accounted for Kamran Ghulam (eight) and Adil Amin (three) to give a glimpse of hope to Northern. But sensible batting from Sarwar helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to achieve the target in the 19th over.

Earlier, Northern managed 164 for four after opting to bat first. Opening batter Nasir Nawaz top-scored with 72 off 55 balls, smashing five fours and three sixes. Taimoor Sultan and Nasir stitched a 42-run partnership for the first wicket. After the departure of Taimoor, the right-handed Nasir was joined by his captain Umar Amin (32) as the pair added 70 in 52 balls.

Arshad Iqbal was the most successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bowler with two for 34, while Mohammad Abbas Afridi and captain Khalid Usman scooped a wicket each.

Interestingly, Northern could have missed out on the semi-final if Southern Punjab had won their match on Saturday night and would have secured the spot for theirselves.

Southern Punjab were well in course to achieve the 130-run target set by Northern as they were 58 for two at the end of the ninth over but Northern’s left-arm spinner Mehran Mumtaz magical first over turned the tide in his team favour.

Mehran got Salman Ali Agha (one) lbw on the first ball he bowled. The next ball he sent Sharoon Siraj on a first ball duck without troubling the score. On a hat-trick ball, the direct throw from Usman Khan Shinwari was enough to send back non-striker Sohaib Maqsood (eight) back to the pavilion.

After the quick dismissals of Southern Punjab’s batters, Northern were never in position to stage a comeback. Hasan Ali (26 not out) — who was playing for the first time in the tournament — struck two sixes and one four to give Southern Punjab a glimpse of hope, but Southern Punjab fell four runs shy of the target and were send packing from the tournament.

Mehran, Usman and Zaman bagged two wickets apiece for Northern.

Earlier, after a 15-minute delayed start due to dust storm, Umar Amin’s decision to bat first didn’t go down well as Northern wobbled at the top of the innings when they slumped to 83 for seven in the 15th over. Northern managed to score over 100 was largely because of a 37-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Usman (21) and Sohail — who returned undefeated on 40 from 30 balls, smashing three fours and two sixes.

Brief scores:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Northern by five wickets.

NORTHERN: 164-4 in 20 overs (Nasir Nawaz 72, Umar Amin 32; Arshad Iqbal 2-34); KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: 165-5 in 19 overs (Rehan Afridi 54, Sahibzada Farhan 39, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 37; Zaman Khan 2-24).Northern beat Southern Punjab by three runs.

NORTHERN: 129-8 in 20 overs (Sohail Tanvir 40 not out, Usman Khan Shinwari 21; Mohammad Ilyas 3-29, Ali Majid 2-29, Hasan Ali 2-30); SOUTHERN PUNJAB: 126-7, 20 overs (Hasan Ali 26 not out, Umar Siddiq 24, Zain Abbas 22; Mehran Mumtaz 2-17, Zaman Khan 2-17, Usman Khan Shinwari 2-31).

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2022