LAHORE: Promising left-arm spinner Raza Hasan kept his nerve cool in the Super Over as Rawalpindi Rams annexed the inaugural edition of the Faysal Bank Super Eight T-20 Cup after defeating Karachi Dolphins before a capacity crowed at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Friday.
The scores were tied at 164 at the end of the final fixture when Rams were dismissed for 164. In the Super Over eliminator, Dolphins’ strike bowler Sohail Khan conceded 16 runs as Awais Zia thumped him for two fours and a six.
The Rams skipper Sohail Tanvir opted to bank on Raza to bowl the crucial over to decide the champions. His faith in the young left-armer paid off rich dividends as the Dolphins were allowed just seven runs despite Khalid Latif striking a six off the very first delivery.
The main culprit in killing Dolphins’ hopes was Shahzaib Hasan, who had represented Pakistan in the 2009 World Twenty20 in England. The hard-hitting batsman missed scoring off three balls in that Raza over.
In the actual game, the Rams made a miraculous comeback to match the Dolphins’ total of 164-5 after Sohail Khan had virtually settled the outcome with five wickets in his four overs which cost only 23 runs.
The Rams required 22 from the last three overs with only three wickets in hand. They ran into further trouble when Sohail removed Mohammad Rameez for 14 in the 18th over.
But the Rams, with Umar Amin (32 not out) leading the fightback scored 10 runs in the penultimate over bowled by slow left-armer Azam Hussain and needed only two from the final four deliveries. But instead they managed only one run while losing Samiullah and last man Raza.
Sohail Khan, who was declared as Man-of-the-Final as well as best bowler of the tournament, was upstaged by heroics of Raza who despite his constant performance failed to win any award from the organisers.
Earlier, Dolphins’ innings was dominated by Rameez Raja, who made a 46-ball 64 with five sixes and four fours. The talented Karachi batsman was adjudged the best batsman of the competition.
Raza was arguably the best bowler for the Rams in the finale with excellent figures of three for 24.
Among other individual awards, Rameez Raja and Faisalabad Wolves skipper Misbah-ul-Haq shared the best fielder prize. The best wicket-keeper award was also split between Lahore Lions’ Kamran Akmal and Dolphins’ Sarfraz Ahmed.
