Usama pushes Central Punjab to Pakistan Cup final

KARACHI: Leggie Usama Mir bowled splendidly to catapult Central Punjab to the final when they demolished Southern Punjab by 82 runs in the first semi-final of the Pakistan Cup here at the SBP Sports Complex on Saturday.

Mir picked 5-23 in just 5.1 overs to fold Southern Punjab for only 149 in the 33rd over while chasing a target of 232. Mir was ably backed by left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar who took 2-19 in his seven overs.

Arafat Minhas top-scored for Southern Punjab with 39 which came off 26 balls and had six fours and one six. Yousuf Babar chipped in with 28 off 51 balls, striking one six. Mohammad Umair contributed 20 off 33 balls which contained two fours. Earlier, Tayyab Tahir (58) and Bilawal Bhatti (51*) hit fine fifties to enable Central Punjab to pile up a good total of 231 all out in the 50th over.

Tayyab smashed four sixes and two fours from 56 balls while Bilawal, who is a bowling all-rounder, smashed four fours and two sixes in his fine 48-ball effort. Zafar Gohar chipped in with a 54-ball 37 which featured four fours while Junaid Ali smashed a 33-ball 22 which contained one six.

Mohammad Ilyas, Hassan Khan, Faisal Akram and Sharoon Siraj claimed two wickets each. The match was supervised by Rashid Riaz and Aalay Haider while Ali Naqvi was the match referee.