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FAISALABAD: Sahibzada Farhan’s unbeaten century and a blistering opening stand between Abdullah Fazal and Jahanzaib Sultan led Peshawar and Karachi Blues to victories in their respective National T20 Cup matches at the Iqbal Stadium on Saturday night.
Peshawar hunted down the 182-run target with eight balls to spare as Farhan led the charge with 114 not out off 59 balls hitting nine fours and as many sixes.
He also partnered with Maaz Sadaqat (37 off 38, five fours) to produce a match-winning 129-run opening partnership and posted his highest T20 career score.
Skipper Iftikhar Ahmed struck two fours and one six before departing for a 12-ball 19 with the scorecard reading 152-2. For Lahore Whites, Mohamad Rameez Jr and Ubaid Shah dismissed a batter each.
Earlier, Lahore Whites benefitted from an unbeaten 85-run fourth-wicket stand between Tayyab Tahir and Saad Nasim, who had joined forces at 96-3.
Tayyab, struck seven fours and a six in his 66 not out off 46 balls, while Saad contributed unbeaten 41 off 31 ball hitting a four and three sixes.
Karachi Blues, meanwhile, romped to a 10-wicket win over Larkana as they chased the 142-run target with 36 balls to spare. Jahanzaib Sultan was the top scorer out of the two opening batters as he struck an unbeaten 79 off 43 balls, clobbering six fours and five sixes.
Abdullah faced 41 balls for his 61 not out with the help of four fours and three sixes.
Earlier, Larkana elected to bat first and posted 141-7 in the allotted 20 overs after slipping to 85-5. Sabit Ali, who scored 30 off 22 balls with the help of 22 balls, was the top-scorer for the side.
For Karachi Blues, skipper Rameez Aziz and Bahadur Ali picked up two wickets each, while Mohammad Asghar, Aarish Ali Khan and Mohammad Hamza dismissed one batter each.
Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2025
