RAWALPINDI: Holders Rawalpindi Rams were knocked out of the 2nd Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup after crashing to a 34-run defeat against Lahore Eagles at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday night.

Despite being egged on by a strong 17,000 crowd, the Rams left their home fans depressed for the second time in three nights — after Karachi Dolphins won the Group ‘B’ tie by 39 runs on late on Monday — when they botched up a 159-run chase; capitulating to 134 all out in the 18th over. In fact, the home side were also victims of a couple of umpiring errors.

Hard-hitting opener Naved Malik was extremely unlucky. He was initially declared caught behind off a slanting delivery from left-arm seamer Mohammad Khalil in the opening over. Umpire Khalid Mahmood later changed the verdict to LBW. On both counts, as TV replays confirmed, the official got it horribly wrong.

Hammad Azam, the Pakistan all-rounder, was shell-shocked when he was belatedly given caught at the wicket off Emmad Ali, the other left-arm fast bowler.

Former international Junaid Zia, reported by umpires in the past on several occasions for suspect bowling action, evidently jerked his wrist to dismiss Jamal Anwar. Junaid, however, had a great time with three wickets as well as three catches. Emmad and spinner Mustafa Iqbal bagged three wickets apiece.

Awais Zia, the latest Pakistan T20 opener, fought a forlorn battle from one end with robust 55 from 77 deliveries (six fours and two sixes) as wickets tumbled regularly before he was eighth out. To complete the Rams’ misery, captain Sohail Tanvir was fined his full match fee for making unsavoury comments on the umpiring.

Earlier after winning the toss, Taufiq Umar played a skipper’s innings with a 57-ball 76 (seven fours and two sixes) to enable the Eagles accumulate 158 in their 20 overs. Imran Farhat (33 off 23 balls, five boundaries) was the only other batsman to reach double figures in a partnership of 64 with Taufiq who was named the Man-of-the-Match.

The result kept alive the Eagles’ hopes of reaching the semi-finals, provided they win against the Dolphins on Friday. — Sports Reporter

Scoreboard

LAHORE EAGLES:Taufiq Umar run out    76Humayun Farhat c Nawaz b Sohail    5Imran Farhat lbw b Awais    33Azhar Ali c Awais b Samiullah    9Ali Azmat c Awais b Hammad    9Muzaffar Mahboob lbw b Yasir    0Junaid Zia b Sohail    2Adnan Akmal not out    3Mohammad Khalil run out    0Emmad Ali c Hammad b Sohail    0Mustafa Iqbal run out    0EXTRAS (B-2, LB-10, W-7, NB-2)    21TOTAL (all out, 20 overs)    158FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-81, 3-101,4-125, 5-132, 6-141, 7-155, 8-156, 9-156.BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 4-0-28-3 (3w); Yasir Arafat 4-0-27-1 (1nb); Hammad Azam 3-0-29-1; Awais Zia 4-0-26-1 (2w); Yasim Murtaza 2-0-17-0; Samillah3-0-19-1 (1w).RAWALPINDI RAMS:Naved Malik lbw b Khalil    0Awais Zia c Junaid b Mustafa    55Tahir Mughal c Taufiq b Emmad    0Jamal Anwar b Junaid    14Umar Amin c and b Junaid    0Mohammad Nawaz c Imran b Junaid    10Hammad Azam c Adnan b Emmad    4Sohail Tanvir b Emmad    11Yasir Arafat c Junaid b Mustafa    3Yasim Murtaza c Humayun b Mustafa    12Samiullah not out    2EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, W-7, NB-2)    13TOTAL (all out, 17.5 overs)    124FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-2, 3-18, 4-18,5-57, 6-70, 7-103, 8-104, 9-121.BOWLING: Mohammad Khalil 3-0-21-1 (2w); Emmad Ali 4-0-28-3; Junaid Zia4-0-14-3 (3w); Taufiq Umar 4-0-33-0 (1w); Mustafa Iqbal 3-0-24-3 (1nb, 1w).RESULT: Lahore Eagles won by 34 runs.UMPIRES: Khalid Mahmood Sr and Islam Khan.TV UMPIRE: Ghaffar Kazmi.MATCH REFEREE: Arshad Pervez.MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Taufiq Umar.