DARWIN: Pakistan Sha­h­eens claimed their third win in the Top End T20 series on Thursday as they beat Melb­ourne Renegades by four wickets at the TIO Stadium in Darwin.

In pursuit of the 108-run target, Shah­eens lost opening batter Sahibzada Far­han in the first over. Skipper Mohammad Haris hit three fours in his 13-ball stay on the crease accumulating 17 runs.

Omair Bin Yousuf (25 off 21, two fours and a six) stit­ched a 29-run third wicket partnership with Usman Khan before falling prey to Tyler Pearson in the ninth over.

Usman anchored the chase with a steady 38 off 36 balls, which included a six and a four. Usman and Moh­a­mmad Irfan Khan (12 off 16) were both dismissed in the 17th over before Jaha­ndad Khan finished the game with a six on the last ball of the subsequent over.

Harry Dixon and Kane Richardson pic­ked up two wickets apiece while Pear­son and Callum Stow dismissed one batter each.

Pakistan Shaheens, after opting to field first, took wickets at regular intervals. Mubasir Khan drew first blood with the wicket of opening batter Blake Macdonald (18 off 10, three fours) in the third over.

Dixon and Marcus Harris departed in the sixth and seventh over respectively with the scorecard reading 40-3 in 6.1 ove­rs. Renegades continued to struggle in the middle overs slumping to 67-7 before they were bundled out for 107 in 18.3 overs.

Wicketkeeper-batter Jai Lemire (23 off 24, one four) was the top scorer for Rene­gades and was the last batter to be dismissed. Jahandad was the pick of the bowlers for Shaheens as he returned figures of 3-19 in 3.3 overs while Arif Yaqoob, Mohammad Imran Jr and Faisal Akram picked up two wickets each.

Pakistan Shaheens will take on Bang­ladesh ‘A’ in the next fixture on Friday.

Scores in brief:

MELBOURNE RENEGADES 107 in 18.3 overs (Jai Lemire 23, Blake Macdonald 18; Jahandad Khan 3-19, Arif Yaqoob 2-19, Mohammad Imran Jnr 2-20, Faisal Akram 2-25); PAKISTAN SHAHEENS 113-6 in 18 overs (Usman Khan 38, Omair Bin Yousuf 25; Harry Dixon 2-2, Kane Richardson 2-25).

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2024