Karachi Whites suffer second successive defeat

KARACHI: Karachi Whites lost their second successive match when they were beaten by Lahore Whites by three wickets in their day-night game on the third day of the National T20 Cup at the Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi, on Monday.

Chasing 164, Lahore Whites required eight runs off the last over from Anwar Ali and one from the last three balls when Aamer Yamin hit the international all-rounder for a glorious four to bring in the first win for his side from two games after losing seven wickets.

Earlier, Sami Aslam (56) and Kamran Akmal (52) laid a solid foundation by scoring 93 runs for the opening stand in 9.3 overs. However, when international left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar broke the partnership by removing Kamran the wickets kept falling at regular intervals before Yamin (14*) and Amad But (8*) took their side comfortably home with two balls to spare.

Kamran smashed six fours and three sixes in his 34-ball innings. Sami, who had hit a fifty in Lahore Whites’ lost cause against Lahore Blues on the opening day, hammered four fours and two sixes in his 36-ball fifty.

Babar (2-18), Rumman Raees (2-37) and Anwar Ali (2-32) were the successful bowlers.After being invited to bat first, Karachi Whit­es failed to stage a big total and were restricted to 163-8 because of fine bowling from fast bowler Umaid Asif (3-18 in 4 overs), who blew the top order.

Karachi Whites failed to build any solid partnership in the entire innings with opener Khurram Manzoor (64) and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (39) showing resolve on the wicket. Khurram, who fell prey to Umaid, struck eight fours and two sixes in his 43-ball innings.

Sarfraz, Pakistan’s captain, smashed three fours and one six from 26 balls. Akbar-ur-Rehman made 20-ball 23 and Haris Sohail struck 16-ball 17. Sami Aslam was adjudged man-of-the-match.

Earlier in the day, former champions Faisalabad recorded their second successive win when they overwhelmed Lahore Blues by seven wickets thanks to superb performances from skipper Saeed Ajmal and hard-hitting international batsman Sohaib Maqsood.

Ajmal claimed 3-26, including the prized scalps of Ahmed Shehzad and Babar Azam, to restrict Lahore Blues to 187-5. Sohaib then slammed unbeaten 80 off 42 deliveries to enable Faisalabad to achieve the 188-run target in 18.1 overs after losing only three wickets.

After being asked to bat first, Lahore Blues suffered an early blow when Ajmal removed Ahmed Shehzad (12) cheaply. However, Imam-ul-Haq (50) and Babar Azam (45) put on 70 off 48 balls for the second wicket association to pave the way for staging a fighting total.

Imam, who recently hit a century on his debut in One-day Internationals against Sri Lanka in the UAE, smashed six fours and one six in his 31-ball fire-work.After losing skipper Mohammad Hafeez (18) through a direct throw from Saeed Ajmal, Babar was joined by young Husain Talat (43) and they scored valuable 56 for the fourth wicket stand to take their team to a good total.

Babar, who was bowled by Ajmal, hit three fours and one six from 37 balls. The left-handed Talat smacked five fours and two sixes in his 26-ball knock.Besides Ajmal’s great show with the ball, medium pacer Asad Ali got 1-48.

Faisalabad’s response was a bit shaky as they lost Gohar Ali (4) early. However, in-form Sahibzada Farhan (58) and Sohaib added 98 off 64 balls for the second wicket to make things easier for the rest of the batsmen.

It was the second successive fifty from Charsadda-born Farhan who hammered seven fours and one six from 44 balls. Sohaib and Asif Ali (42) then plundered 78 off only 30 balls in their third wicket partnership to take their side comfortably home.

Asif, who was removed by Husain Talat, smashed five fours and three sixes in his explosive 17-ball feat. Sohaib’s fire-work included seven sixes and three fours.Mohammad Hafeez (1-29 in 3 overs), Khalid Usman (1-23 in 4 overs) and Talat (1-8 in 1 over) were the successful bowlers. Sohaib was declared man-of-the-match. On Tuesday (today), Rawalpindi face Peshawar and Islamabad take on FATA.