KARACHI: Balochistan, Southern Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa joined Central Punjab to complete the semi-finals line-up of the Pakistan Cup as the tournament’s final round of league matches ended here on Thursday.
Balochistan beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by seven wickets at the NBP Sports Complex and the teams will clash again for the second semi-final on Sunday while Southern Punjab and Central Punjab will vie for a place in Monday’s final on Saturday.
The defending champions had an easy outing against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who were bowled out for just 133 runs with Mohammad Junaid bagging four wickets and Balochistan captain Yasir Shah claiming three victims. Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman was the highest run-scorer the former winners with 32 off 37 balls.
Balochistan chased down the target with 31 overs to spare as opener Imran Butt smashed a 46-ball 63, smashing 10 fours and six. Imran’s opening partner Haseebullah made a quickfire 53, hitting 11 fours in his 32-ball knock.
The win meant Balochistan finished second in the league round with 12 points. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, despite losing the fixture, ended third with 10 points.
Southern Punjab managed fourth place after a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Northern at the UBL Sports Complex as Mohammad Umair and Sharoon Siraj took four and three wickets respectively to restrict the latter to 120. Mubasir Khan, with 29, and Umar Amin, with 25, were the only notable contributions for Northern.
Mohammad Shehzad then plundered the Northern bowlers for 60 off 50 balls with the help of eight fours and one six to help Southern Punjab chase down the paltry target in less than 16 overs.
Central Punjab, who had already sealed a spot in the semis in the penultimate round of league matches, beat Sindh by 67 runs to finish the side’s Pakistan Cup campaign.
A target of 311 runs was too much for the National T20 Cup champions to chase as they were bowled out for 244 with five overs to spare despite getting decent start of 43 runs by openers Saim Ayub and Sharjeel Khan.
Faraz Ali was the pick of the Sindh batters with 64 while Anwar Ali and Sohail Khan added 30 off 35 and 43 off 29 respectively. The contributions weren’t enough for Sindh as Central Punjab bowler Usama Mir took three wickets.
Earlier, Ahmed Shehzad smashed 67 and Tayyab Tahir hit 59 to boost Central Punjab to a decent total.
Summarised scores:
Balochistan beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by seven wickets
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 133 in 31 overs (Fakhar Zaman 32, Adil Amin 28 not out; Mohammad Junaid 4-37, Yasir Shah 3-26); BALOCHISTAN 137-3 in 18.3 overs (Imran Butt 63 not out, Haseebullah 53; Ihsanullah 2-31)
Central Punjab beat Sindh by 66 runs
CENTRAL PUNJAB 310-9 in 50 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 67, Tayyab Tahir 59; Sohail Khan 2-41, Asif Mehmood 2-65); SINDH 244 in 45 overs (Faraz Ali 64, Sohail Khan 43; Usama Mir 3-41)
Southern Punjab beat Northern by eight wickets
NORTHERN 120 in 31.5 overs (Mubasir Khan 29, Umar Amin 25; Mohammad Umair 4-19, Sharoon Siraj 3-32); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 121-2 in 15.1 overs (Mohammad Shehzad 60 not out, Sharoon Siraj 37)—Sports Reporter
Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2022
