KARACHI: Mohammad Fayyaz made an invaluable contribution as Peshawar Panthers sealed a well-deserved win by four wickets against Islamabad Leopards in their AlBaraka Bank presents Haier T20 Cup match at the National Stadium here on Tuesday night.

Fayyaz, arriving in the middle in the 15th over with the Panthers still requiring 49 runs changed the tide with a well-paced knock of 39 to steer his team home on the penultimate ball of the Group ‘C’ fixture.

It was the Panthers’ second win in as many matches and they will be again in action early on Wednesday morning against Azad Jammu Kashmir Jaguars.

Chasing 157, the Panthers lost veteran opener Riffatullah Mohmand on the third ball of the innings when Leopards captain Umar Gul swung the ball away to have him neatly taken at first slip by Afaq Raheem.

Israrullah, the other opener, stood firm while letting Iftikhar Ahmed (25 off 21, four boundaries and one six) and Adil Amin (39 off 21, three sixes and three fours) keep in touch with the asking rate.

Israrullah, who was sixth out after hitting four boundaries in his 37-ball 25, and Adil were involved in a partnership of 57 from 34 deliveries.

It was then left to Fayyaz to complete the last rites as the man-of-the-match struck seven fours in his unbeaten 22-ball innings.

Although Umar Gul didn’t enjoy further success but he admitted afterwards that he is competing in the T20 Cup with the same intensity as he had been doing for Pakistan.

“It’s not in my hands. The selectors are the best people to judge whether I’m good enough to be playing international cricket,” Umar commented. “Personally I am trying to stay as fit as I can to regain my place in the national team. Even here I’m taking each game with the all seriousness as I have for Pakistan. If the selectors think I’m good enough to be playing then there is some hope left for me.”

Earlier, youngster Babar Azam, rated as one of the brightest prospects, anchored the Leopards’ innings nicely as he slammed three sixes and five fours in making 70 from 51 deliveries.

The Leopards lost Test opener Shan Masood cheaply before Afaq Raheem (37 off 34, four fours and one six) and Babar combined to add 69 in 57 balls. But once they departed, the Panthers had the game under control as the Leopards were curtailed to 156-6 after Umar Gul had won the toss.

Left-arm seamer Taj Wali was the man responsible for seizing the initiative as he dismissed Babar, Imad Wasim and Umar Gul despite going for nine runs an over.

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS:

Afaq Raheem c Iftikhar b Adil 37Shan Masood c Fayyaz b M. Imran Khan 4Babar Azam c Rizwan b Taj 70Imad Wasim c Rizwan b Taj 11Zohaib Ahmed b Imran Jr 1Umar Gul c Adil b Taj 0Faizan Riaz not out 12Naeem Anjum not out 8

EXTRAS (LB-7, W-3, NB-3) 13

TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 156

FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-74, 3-133, 4-134, 5-134, 6-137.

DID NOT BAT: Junaid Nadir, Shehzad Azam Rana, Raza Hasan.

BOWLING: Mohammad Imran Khan 3-0-20-1 (1w); Taj Wali 4-0-36-3 (1w); Imran Khan Jr 4-0-31-1 (1nb); Adil Amin 4-0-22-1; Zohaib Khan 4-0-30-0 (1w); Iftikhar Ahmed 1-0-10-0.

PESHAWAR PANTHERS:

Riffatullah Mohmand c Afaq b Umar Gul 0Israrullah c Imad b Shehzad 29Iftikhar Ahmed lbw b Shehzad 25Adil Amin b Imad 39 Jamaluddin lbw b Imad 3Zohaib Khan run out 3Mohammad Fayyaz not out 39Mohammad Rizwan not out 8

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-6, NB-2) 11

TOTAL (for six wkts, 19.5 overs) 157

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-32, 3-89, 4-100, 5-108, 6-108.

DID NOT BAT: Taj Wali, Mohammad Imran Khan, Imran Khan Jr.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 4-1-27-1; Junaid Nadir 2-0-13-0; Shehzad Azam Rana 3.5-0-35-2 (1nb, 1w); Raza Hasan 4-0-32-0 (1w); Imad Wasim

4-0-26-2 (2w); Zohaib Ahmed 2-0-21-0 (2w).

RESULT: Peshawar Panthers won by four wickets.

UMPIRES: Riazuddin and Tahir Hussain.

TV UMPIRE: Asif Yaqoob.

MATCH REFEREE: Shahid Butt.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Fayyaz.

WEDNESDAY’S FIXTURES: Peshawar Panthers vs Azad Jammu Kashmir Jaguars (9:00am); Abbottabad Falcons vs Dera Murad Jamali Ibexes (1:00pm); Faisalabad Wolves vs Lahore Eagles (5:00pm).

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2014