LAHORE: Riazullah Khan helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites beat Southern Punjab Blues by 106 runs to clinch the National U16 Cup.
Grabbing the Under 16 cricket title, the KP teams - seniors, Under13 and Under16 - made history by winning all three senior and junior titles. This was also Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s fifth title in the 2021-22 cricket season as they had won the National T20, National U19 Cup, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and National U13 Cup before. Now it was Under16 turn to complete the title cycle for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
At the Multan Cricket Stadium on Monday Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites, batting first, post 255 for nine in 45 overs as Riazullah Khan scored his fourth half-century of the tournament. Player of the match Riazullah scored 75-ball 78 with 13 fours and one six. He stroked a crucial 128-run second wicket partnership with Afkar Durrani after Roman Alam Khan was dismissed for four with only six runs on the board. Afkar scored 49 and Captain Mohammad Zubair scored 47-ball 40, hitting four fours. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Ansarullah made a quickfire unbeaten contribution of 28 runs from 15 balls and smashed one four and two sixes. Southern Punjab’s Inamullah and Sameer Akhtar bagged three wickets each. In return, Southern Punjab Blues were dismissed for 149 in the 39th over. Opening batter Adeel Mushtaq top-scored with a 72-ball 50. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohammad Haroon picked four wickets for 38.
Mohammad Haroon was also named best bowler of the tournament taking 17 wickets. Central Punjab Whites Tayyab Arif was named Player of the Tournament as the right-handed batter scored 414 runs at an average of 82.80 and took six wickets. Riazullah Khan finished the tournament with 419 runs at a staggering average of 83 and was also awarded with best batter of the tournament besides man of the final. Northern Blues Hassan Ijaz received the best wicketkeeper award as he took 10 catches behind the stumps. All best performers in the tournament were awarded PKR30,000 each. The victory bagged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites PKR350,000 along with the glittering trophy.