KARACHI: Saif Badar played a useful innings in the death overs to enable Lahore Whites to lift the title when they defeated Rawalpindi by two wickets in the thrilling final of the National T20 Cup 2018-19 at Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
The 20-year old Sialkot-born right-handed batsman hammered a 23-ball 35 not out to help Lahore Whites to chase the 163-run target with four balls to spare after losing eight wickets. Earlier Naved Malik slammed a solid 29-ball 44 to catapult Rawalpindi to 162-8.
Chasing 163, Lahore Whites required 25 runs in the last two overs with only two wickets in hand. Saif hit international all-rounder Hammad Azam for two sixes in the penultimate over that fetched 21 runs. These also included four overthrow runs off the last ball when Hammad attempted a throw towards the keeper’s end when Amad Butt was coming back for the second run. The gloveman Jamal Anwar failed to collect the ball which crossed the rope and so six came off the last delivery to leave only four runs for left-arm pacer Sadaf Hussain to defend in the final over. Saif got a couple off the first ball from Sadaf before hitting a four off the next delivery to bring in a stunning win. Saif, who has also represented Pakistan Under-19, smashed two sixes and one four in his match-winning knock. Amad remained not out on valuable 12 off six balls.
After opting to bat first Rawalpindi had a fragile start. Fast bowler Umaid Asif provided an early breakthrough to Lahore Whites when he had Haider Ali for four.
Skipper Umar Amin then joined Naved. In the fifth over spinner Zafar Gohar got the prized scalp of the Rawalpindi’s captain who fell for six-ball 11. Umar wanted to pull it, top-edged and held nicely by Bilal Asif in the deep. Umar smashed one four and a huge straight six off Zafar.
Pakistan’s discard Wahab Riaz then further built pressure on Rawalpindi when he had Saud Shakeel (5) to leave Rawalpindi at 53-3 in 7.3 overs.It was expected that Naved would take his side to a big total. But in the tenth over he got run out when a direct throw from Amad crashed the stumps at non-striker’s end. Naved hit seven fours and a six off Bilal Asif in his 29-ball fine knock.
After losing Naved it seemed that Rawalpindi lost their way. However M Nawaz and Zahid Mansoor batted aggressively to take Rawalpindi past 100 runs in 13 overs. Umaid, in his second spell, once again did the job for Lahore Whites when he sent Nawaz back. Nawaz smashed 20-ball 21 which featured three fours. He added 38 off 27 balls for the crucial fifth wicket association with Zahid. Amad then got rid of Zahid after the right-hander had hit five fours in his 21-ball 30. Hammad then batted sensibly, scoring 19-ball 22 to take his side to a fighting total. Hammad smashed two fours. He shared 31 runs for the seventh wicket with wicket-keeper batsman Jamal Anwar (10). Amad (2-25) and Umaid (2-30) bowled well in their quotas of four overs.
Chasing a tricky target Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt provided a solid 42-run start to Lahore Whites. M Nawaz, finally, gave a breakthrough to Rawalpindi when he had Salman, trapped lbw when the left-handed former Pakistan’s captain went for a slog sweep, missed it completely.
Hammad brought Rawalpindi in the game when he took the prized scalps of Kamran and Zeeshan Ashraf (0) off his two successive deliveries to leave Lahore Whites at 77-3 in the tenth over.
Kamran hammered two sixes and three fours in his fiery 31-ball 42. After Kamran’s fall Lahore Whites then kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Ali Khan got run out for five before off-spinner Zahid Mansoor held Umar Akmal off his own bowling after the Pakistan’s discard had smashed five fours and one six from 21-ball 34. Wahab Riaz fell afterwards after smackingtwo fours and one six in his rapid nine-ball 18. At that stage Lahore Whites were gasping at 123-6 in 15.2 overs. Zafar Gohar (2) then got run out before Hammad removed Bilal Asif (1) in the same over to leave Lahore Whites struggling at 129-8 in 16.5 overs. At this stage Saif and Amad did a magical job to make their side home. Hammad got 3-39 in four overs.
The winners Lahore Whites were handed over a trophy and a purse of Rs 2.5 million. The runners-up Rawalpindi went away with a cheque of Rs 1.2m.
Similarly, Rs100,000 each was also handed over to Saif Badar (Lahore Whites, Man-of-the-Match), Umaid Asif and Amad Butt (Lahore Whites, best bowlers, 16 wickets each), Khurram Manzoor (Karachi Whites, best batsman, 322 runs), Kamran Akmal (Lahore Whites, best wicket-keeper, outstanding cricketer). Lahore Whites’ skipper Kamran Akmal praised his team for superb performance.
“I will give credit to the team management as they played right combinations. Our bowlers particularly Umaid Asif and Amad Butt bowled really well,” Kamran said.
“The way Saif batted in the end along with Amad was fantastic. At one stage it seemed that we were in a difficult position but both the youngsters did well. Their running between the wickets was very good,” Kamran said.
Rawalpindi’s skipper Umar Amin defended his side.” I am proud of my team as every player chipped in at the right time. But I will give cricket to Lahore whites who outclassed us today,” Umar said. Ahsan Raza and Shozab Raza supervised the match.
