ISLAMABAD: Karachi Region Whites and Lahore Region Blues stayed in the hunt for a place in the National T20 Cup semi-finals with easy wins at the Pindi Stadium Monday. Karachi bowlers did well to defend a low total of 148 runs against Islamabad Region who could muster only 129-5 while Lahore Blues prevailed over Fata Region by 19 runs in the second match of the day. Asad Shafiq (45) was the standout batsman for Karachi as they struggled against some tight Islamabad bowling led by Mohammad Irfan (3-25) and Umar Gul (3-45). He smashed two sixes and five fours. Sarfraz Ahmad (28) then added some useful runs to set a compatible total for Islamabad to chase. Islamabad batsmen however disappointed the local crowd by never coming to terms against some controlled Karachi Whites bowling. Tabish Khan (1-19), Ruman Raees (1-18) and Zulfiqar Babar (1-21) bowled brilliantly to defend low total. Nouman Anwar (34) turned out to be the main scorer for Islamabad. In day’s second match, Sohail Akhtar’s (74 not out) gallant efforts went in vain as Fata were beaten by 19 runs by Lahore Blues.Set to chase 178 for victory, Fata struggled all the way after Blues made some early inroads into their top-order. Fata were reduced to 30-5. Sohail then took over, striking four boundaries and as many sixes during his 56-ball unbeaten knock. Asif Afridi (37) also played well for a brief period but the target was always a difficult task for the Fata team against tight Lahore Blues bowling led by Aizaz Cheema (3-24). Lahore Blues and Karachi Whites now also have seven points each along with Lahore Whites.Scores in brief: Karachi Whites 148 in 19 overs (Asad Shafiq 45, Sarfraz Ahmed 28; Muhammad Irfan 3-25, Umar Gul 3-45, Rahat Ali 1-23, Adil Amin 1-25, Raza Hassan 1-27) v Islamabad 129-5 in 20 overs (Nouman Anwar 34, Saad Ali 25, Shan Masood 25; Tabish Khan 1-19, Rumman Raees 1-18, Zulfiqar Babar 1-21, Azam Hussain 1-31, Anwar Ali 1-37) Lahore Blues beat Fata by 19 runs: Lahore Blues 177-4 in 20 overs (Hussain Tallat 68 not out, Muhammad Hafeez 31, Ahmed Shahzad 29; Sameen Gul 1-26, Muhammad Irfan 1-28, Asif Afridi 1-33, Ahmed Jamal 1-47) v Fata 158-7 in 20 overs (Sohail Akhtar 74 not out, Asif Afridi 37; Aizaz Cheema 3-24, Salman Ali Agha 1-19, Khalid Usman 1-22, Waqas Ahmed 1-41).
