KARACHI: After being stunned by Rawalkot Hawks the other night, Muzaffarabad Tigers rode on opener Zeeshan Ashraf’s quickfire century to defeat Kotli Lions by five wickets in their Kashmir Premier League clash in Muzaffarabad on Tuesday.
Batting first at the Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium, the Lions posted a healthy 195-4 in the allotted 20 overs as Pakistan discard Asif Ali smashed 67 off 34 balls (five sixes and four fours).
But Zeeshan then took over to dominate rest of the second-half action, while striking an unbeaten 107 — the first century of the tournament — from 62 deliveries with the aid 18 boundaries and one six to help Tigers reach their target of 196 with nine balls to spare.
When this report was being filed the winless Overseas Warrior were in action against Bagh Stallions.
Late on Monday night, Tigers were left heartbroken when they lost to leaders Rawalkot Hawks by just one run.
Hussain Talat (69 off 45 balls, six fours and three sixes) and Ahmed Shehzad (50 off 33, nine fours) propelled the Hawks to 175-7 before the Tigers were restricted to 174-7 with seamer Zaman Khan grabbing 3-27.
The highlight of early play was young Pakistan pacer Mohammad Wasim dismissing Bismillah Khan, Kashif Ali and Umar Amin with the first three balls of his opening over, which was the second of the match.
In Monday’s earlier game, the Warriors crashed to their second loss on the trot as Mirpur Royals eased to a five-wicket win.
Scores in brief:
Played on Tuesday:
Muzaffarabad Tigers beat Kotli Lions by five wickets.
KOTLI LIONS 195-4 in 20 overs (Asif Ali 67, Syed Abdullah 35, Saif Badar 28 not out, Kamran Akmal 27); MUZAFFARABAD TIGERS 196-5 in 18.3 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 107 not out; Akif Javed 2-46).
Played on Monday:
Rawalkot Hawks beat Muzaffarabad Tigers by one run.
RAWALKOT HAWKS 175-7 in 20 overs (Hussain Talat 69 not out, Ahmed Shehzad 50, Mohammad Imran Randhawa 40; Mohammad Wasim 3-26, Arshad Iqbal 2-38); MUZAFFARABAD TIGERS 174-7 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 44, Zeeshan Ashraf 38, Sohaib Maqsood 22; Zaman Khan 3-27, Asif Afridi 2-25, Mohammad Imran Randhawa 2-48).
Mirpur Royals beat Overseas Warriors by five wickets.
OVERSEAS WARRIORS 145-6 in 20 overs (Kamran Ghulam 47, Azam Khan 32; Salman Irshad 3-25); MIRPUR ROYALS 146-5 in 18.1 overs (Mukhtar Ahmed 45, Shoaib Malik 36, Sharjeel Khan 35; Mohammad Musa Khan 3-27).
Wednesday’s fixtures: Bagh Stallions vs Rawalkot Hawks (2:00pm PST); Kotli Lions vs Mirpur Royals (7:30pm PST).
Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2021