Farhan, Rizwan shine in KP win over Southern Punjab

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s impressive show continued at the Pindi Stadium on Saturday as they powered past Southern Punjab by seven wickets in the National T20 Cup.

Skipper Mohammad Rizwan (64) and Sahibzada Farhan (73) put on 136 for the second wicket following Fakhar Zaman’s (1) early loss to see KP reaching the 153 runs target with two balls to spare. Both played the Southern Punjab attack with utmost confidence, first settling down and then hitting big shots.

Sahibzada’s 49-ball innings was studded with four sixes and six boundaries. Rizwan hammered six boundaries and one six during his 47-ball knock. Fakhar again fell cheaply, missing a rather full-pitched delivery to be trapped in front of the wicket.

Farhan and Rizwan departed on successive balls, but by that time only 13 runs were required off 17 balls, including six off the last over, which Adil Amin and Iftikhar Ahmed achieved without being separated.

This was Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s second victory in as many matches. Southern Punjab remain winless after two matches. The two sides will meet in a return match at the Gaddafi Stadium on October 10.

Earlier, Imran Khan Snr, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim combined to bowl out Southern Punjab for 152. A fighting 54 by Imran Randhawa and a rapid 14-ball 25 by Hassan Khan saved Southern Punjab’s blushes.

Imran returned figures of 3.4-0-28-4, while Shaheen had figures of 4-0-34-3. Wasim picked up two wickets for 32 runs.

Imran Randhawa’s maiden half-century off 46 balls included seven fours and a six, while Hassan hit four fours.

Imran Khan Snr was declared the player of the match.

In a match on Friday, brilliant all round display by Wahab Riaz, swashbuckling half-century by Babar Azam and Usman Qadir’s four-fer set up Central Punjab’s two-wicket win against Balochistan at the Pindi Stadium.

Wahab followed up his two for 19 with a priceless 20 not out off eight balls with two sixes and a four to earn victory for the star-studded Central Punjab, who needed 20 runs off the last 12 balls.

Hasan Ali lent Wahab good support deep in the innings with a 16-ball 19 with two fours and six.

Central Punjab’s run-chase was spearheaded by their captain Babar Azam who scored 65 from 45 balls. His innings was laced with eight fours and a six. The other Central Punjab batter to reach double figures was Muhammad Akhlaq (14).

Despite making a match out of a small total of 142, Balochistan were left ruing the missed opportunities. When Babar was eight, Akif Javed failed to hold on to a straightforward return catch. Later, Junaid Khan bowled no-balls that not only cost him wickets but also resulted in runs for Central Punjab.

After being 73 for two in 9.3 overs in pursuit of 143, they slipped to 120 for eight in 17 overs – thanks to poor shot selections. Junaid got three for 41 and left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti two for 15.

Earlier, No8 batter Umaid Asif gave some respect to Balochistan’s score when he clubbed three sixes and a four in an 18-ball 32 not out. This included 17 runs off the final over, bowled by Hasan, who remained wicketless and conceded 46 runs.

Umaid added 34 runs for the seventh wicket with Kashif, who contributed a run-a-ball 27 with two fours and two sixes.

The bowler to peg Balochistan down was wrist spinner Usman Qadir, who had figures of 4-0-25-4.