Karachi (W) edge Fata to taste first win

KARACHI: Skipper Khurram Manzoor blasted a swashbuckling 79 to enable Karachi Whites to pull off their first win when they defeated Fata by seven runs in their second outing of the National T20 Cup at Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on Thursday.

Test opener Khurram hit seven fours and two sixes in his gritty 63-ball knock to guide Karachi Whites to 130-7 in the allotted 20 overs. Fawad Alam (2-18) and 17-year old Swabi-born medium pacer Arshad Iqbal (2-22), who made his debut, then restricted Fata to 123-6, their second straight loss in the eight-team event so far.

After being invited to bat Khurram continued his golden form and single-handedly catapulted his side to set a tricky target for the oppositions on the pitch which troubled the batsmen. Shoaib Malik struck 14-ball 19 with two fours and Fawad Alam belted 18-ball 14 with one four. M Irfan Junior got 4-33 in four overs.

In reply, Fata at one stage had put themselves within sight of a victory when they were 86-4 in 14.2 overs. However Karachi Whites bowlers and fielders did a commendable job in the last five overs to prevent the tribesmen from conquering the field. Fata’s batting revolved around Pakistan’s discarded T20 player Mukhtar Ahmed as the right-hander hammered 45-ball 52 with five fours and one six to keep his team’s hope floating for some time.

However after his fall Karachi Whites took control of the game. Skipper Asif Afridi kept Karachi Whites under pressure through his rapid 21-ball 33, having smacked three sixes and one four. In the final over of pacer Tabish Khan Fata needed 21 runs. Asif brought in 13 to leave his side losing closely. Khurram was adjudged man-of-the-match for his spicy knock. Karachi Whites’ skipper Khurram Manzoor credited his whole team for the tight win.

“We had scored ten to 15 runs short but the boys put in their best in both bowling and fielding to make the win possible for us,” discarded Test opener said. However he was not satisfied with the tracks which have been prepared for the country’s top T20 event.

“The ball does not come rightly onto the bat. It comes a bit slow and so we are not enjoying. T20 cricket should be interesting and if a side scores 170 to 180 then public also enjoys such matches. I hope we will see some good pitches in coming matches,” said Khurram, who also lifted the best batsman award for scoring the highest runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy this season.

Meanwhile Fata captain Asif Afridi said his team had turned relaxed that damaged their cause. “We had become relaxe at a stage and that damaged us. We would not repeat such mistake in future and will remain stiff till the end,” Asif said. He said due to lack of experience his side loses close matches. “We will make some changes to both our batting and bowling in the next match,” Asif said.

Meanwhile Multan romped to their second successive win when they downed Peshawar by five wickets. Hasan Raza (67*) and Mohammad Imran (21*) shared 40 runs off 30 balls for the sixth wicket unbroken association to enable Multan to achieve 133-run target with seven balls to spare after losing five wickets. Raza smacked four fours and a six in his 54-ball innings. Imran struck three fours in his rapid 11-ball unfinished feat. Mohammad Junaid got 3-31. Earlier Fawad Khan (40), Raees Ahmed (36) and Mohammad Mohsin (33*) took Peshawar to 132-6 after being invited to bat first. Fawad hammered two sixes and two fours from 33 balls. Raees smacked two fours from 40 balls while Mohsin struck two sixes and a four from 21 balls. Tall international left-armer Mohammad Irfan got 2-34 in four overs. Hasan Raza was declared man of the match.

Today’s fixtures: Lahore Whites v Rawalpindi (11am), Lahore Blues v Islamabad (3pm).