DARWIN: Aggressive half-centuries by Milind Kumar and Tajinder Dhillon and fine bowling by Scott Kuggeleign steered Chicago Kingsmen to a resounding 69-run win over Pakistan Shaheens in the Top End T20 Series at the DXC Arena in Darwin on Tuesday.

This was Shaheens’ second loss in the 11-team event.

Chasing 207, Shaheens were never in the hunt as they lost four wickets inside the powerplay.

At 28-4, opener and the team’s top-scorer Yasir Khan (38 off 32 balls, five fours) was joined by captain Mohammad Irfan Khan and the pair added 43 runs for the fifth wicket.

Following the dismissal of Irfan (24 off 18 balls, two fours, one six) in the 10th over, Shaheens suffered regular setbacks and could only manage to post 137 for eight in the stipulated 20 overs.

For Kingsmen, Kuggeleign claimed three wickets for 19 runs from four overs, while Ehsan Adil picked up 2-20 in three overs.

Earlier, after being sent in to bat, Kingsmen posted 206 for five in 20 overs.

Kumar, who was later named player-of-the-match, struck a 37-ball 74, hitting eight fours and three sixes while Dhillon contributed a 37-ball 58, which included four fours and two sixes.

For Shaheens, Mohammad Wasim Jr claimed two wickets, while Saad Masood and Shahid Aziz took one apiece.

Shaheens in their next match take on Adelaide Strikers at the same venue on Wednesday.

Scores in brief:

Chicago Kingsmen beat Pakistan Shaheens by 69 runs.

CHICAGO KINGSMEN 206-5 in 20 overs (Milind Kumar 74, Tajinder Dhillon 58, Shayan Jahangir 30; Mohammad Waseem Jr 2-57); PAKISTAN SHAHEENS 137-8 in 20 overs (Yasir Khan 38, Muhammad Irfan Khan 24, Shahid Aziz 24; Scott Kuggeleign 3-19, Ehsan Adil 2-20).

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2025