LAHORE, Oct 7: Inspired by fiery pace bowling by Malik Aftab and Sohail Khan, Karachi Dolphins crushed Islamabad Leopards by nine wickets to sail into the final of the RBS National Twenty20 Cup at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Left-arm pacer Aftab, adjudged Man-of-the-Match, finished with 3-17 and Sohail celebrated his inclusion in the Canada-bound Pakistan squad by picking two wickets for five runs as the Leopards were shot out for 68 in 15.5 overs in the first semi-final.

The pacemen were ably assisted by off-spinner Tahir Khan, who claimed two wickets.

The Dolphins knocked off the required runs in just 10.4 overs while losing opener Khalid Latif for a 26-ball 24 that included three boundaries. Khurram Manzoor struck an unbeaten 28 off 26 deliveries and hit four fours and one six.

Earlier, Leopards’ skipper Ashar Zaidi decision to bat first backfired as the first five wickets went down with only 38 runs on the board.

Umair Khan (17), Ashar (13) and Naeem Anjum (13) were the men to enter double figures.

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS:

Raheel Majeed lbw b Sohail 0

Umair Khan c Sarfraz b Aftab 17

Bazid Khan b Sohail 0

Afaq Raheem c Sarfraz b Anwar 2

Ashar Zaidi c Afridi b Aftab 14

Fayyaz Ahmed c Afridi b Aftab 4

Naeem Anjum c and b Tahir 13

Shoaib Akhtar c Anwar b Tahir 4

Rauf Akbar run out 4

Rao Iftikhar not out 1

Imad Wasim c Sarfraz b Afridi 0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-3, W-4) 9

TOTAL (all out, 15.5 overs) 68

FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-9, 3-18, 4-24, 5-38, 6-45, 7-57, 8-63, 9-68.

BOWLING: Anwar Ali 3-0-13-1; Sohail Khan 2-0-5-2; Malik Aftab 4-0-17-3; Tariq Haroon 4-0-13-0; Shahid Afridi 1.5-0-9-1; Tahir Khan 1-0-6-2.

KARACHI DOLPHINS:

Khurram Manzoor not out 28

Khalid Latif lbw b Rauf 24

Naumanullah not out 9

EXTRAS (NB-2, W-6) 8

TOTAL (for one wkt, 10.4 overs) 69

FALL OF WKT: 1-48.

DID NOT BAT: Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Tariq Haroon, Sarfraz Ahmed, Tahir Khan, Anwar Ali, Malik Aftab, Sohail Khan.

BOWLING: Shoaib Akhtar 3-0-22-0; Rao Iftikhar 2.4-0-21-0; Rauf Akbar 3-0-12-1; Imad Wasim 2-0-14-0.

RESULT: Karachi Dolphins won by nine wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Malik Aftab.