RAWALPNDI: Younis Khan displayed calm temperament to inspire Abbottabad Falcons into the last-four stage of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup as his side completed a hard-fought victory by four wickets against Karachi Zebras in the event’s last quarter-final here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Younis remained undefeated on 55 from just 35 deliveries to steer his home with five balls left when Yasir Shah
took the winning run, a boundary off paceman Tabish Khan, after the Falcons were asked to chase a challenging 130 under lights.
Younis followed his important contributions in the last three matches by exhibiting his class and calibre after veteran Zebras’ pace-bowling all-rounder Tariq Haroon claimed three wickets to leave Falcons struggling at 56-3 in the ninth over.
The former Pakistan captain, who hit six fours and swept leg-spinner Shahzaib Ahmed Khan for a six over square leg, was declared Man-of-the-Match by experienced adjudicator and former Test paceman Anwer Khan.
Tariq finished with three for 14 in four overs, while all-rounder Akbar-ur-Rehman grabbed two wickets for 21 in two overs.
Earlier, the Zebras posted 129-6 after skipper Faisal Iqbal elected to bat first. His decision backfired somewhat as Pakistan left-arm paceman Junaid Khan bowled superbly to take three important wickets for mere 17 runs in his four overs.
The solitary highlight for the Zebras was the third-wicket partnership of 77 between Faisal (43 of 34 balls, three fours and two sixes) and Hasan Raza, who once again proved himself as opener. Hasan was the chief run-getter with a 53-ball 47 with four hits to the fence.
But Hasan got bogged down which increased the pressure on the other batsmen.
Apart from Junaid, slow left-armer Khalid Usman bowled a tidy spell of one for 19 in three overs, while leg-spinner Yasir Shah looked off colour as he gave away 29 runs from his three overs.
The Falcons meet Faisalabad Wolves in the second semi-final on Saturday (at 4:00pm) after Islamabad Leopards take on reigning champions Lahore Lions in the first semi-final the same day (at 12:00pm). Both fixtures will be staged at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.—Sports Reporter
Scoreboard
KARACHI ZEBRAS:Fakhar Zaman run out 4Hasan Raza c Yasir Shah b Junaid 47Akbar-ur-Rehman c Hammad b Ahmed 10Faisal Iqbal b Khalid 43Tariq Haroon c Adnan b Junaid 2Fahad Iqbal not out 8Javed Mansoor c Shakeel b Junaid 8EXTRAS (LB-1, W-6) 7TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 129FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-26, 3-103, 4-112, 5-112, 6-129.DID NOT BAT: Haris Ayaz, Tabish Khan, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan, Rumman Raees Khan.BOWLING: Junaid Khan 4-1-17-3 (3w); Ahmed Jamal 4-0-28-1 (2w); Mohammad Naeem 4-1-23-0 (1w); Yasir Shah 3-0-29-0; Khalid Usman 3-0-19-1 (1w); Shakeel Ahmed 2-0-12-0.ABBOTTABAD FALCONS:Yasir Hameed c Rumman b Tariq 15Hammad Ali c Rumman b Tariq 20Younis Khan not out 55Adnan Raees c and b Tariq 0Riaz Kail c Akbar b Haris 19Khalid Usman c Shahzaib b Akbar 1Shakeel Ahmed c Hasan b Akbar 4Yasir Shah not out 7EXTRAS (B-2, LB-3, W-3, NB-4) 12TOTAL (for six wkts, 19.1 overs) 133FALL OF WKTS: 1-37, 2-55, 3-56, 4-92, 5-98, 6-110.DID NOT BAT: Junaid Khan, Ahmed Jamal, Mohammad Naeem.BOWLING: Rumman 3-0-27-0 (2nb); Tabish 3.1-0-18-0 (1w); Tariq 4-0-14-3; Shahzaib 4-0-23-0; Haris 3-0-25-1 (2w); Akbar 2-0-21-2.RESULT: Abbottabad Falcons won by four wickets.UMPIRES: Khalid Mahmood and Zameer Haider. TV UMPIRE: Riazuddin.MATCH REFEREE: Anwer Khan.MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Younis Khan.