Ufone, Allied Bank enter CPL T20 final

LAHORE: Ufone and Allied Bank qualified for the final of Pepsi CPL T20 Championship after having contrasting victories in the semifinals here.

In the enthralling first semifinal of the tournament, Ufone defeated Descon by 3 wickets. Ufone restricted Descon to paltry 95 runs. Only Imran Mubashar (13) and Rana Tahir (12) could cross double figure. Khayam Abbas grabbed four wickets while Ahsan Zaidi and Ali Sikander took two wickets each.

An outstanding partnership between Ali Sikander and Ahsan Zaidi helped Ufone land home. Descon’s Faheem Butt clinched crucial four wickets. Ufone’s Ali Sikander and Descon’s Faheem Butt were jointly declared men of the match. The second semifinal between Allied Bank and Meezan Bank proved to be a thrilling encounter, which ended in a draw in the allotted overs and was then decided in super over, where Allied Bank emerged as winners by six runs.

Batting first Meezan Bank slammed 166 with M Ashraf hitting 38, Yousaf Iftikhar 35 and Wakeel Rizwan 22. Allied Bank replied strongly but they couldn’t score one more run to register a thrilling victory.

Rizwan Aslam was top-scorer with 72 while Junaid made 37 and Khawar 13. For Meezan Bank, Yaseen Cheema took two wickets.Due to bad light, the umpires decided that three balls will be bowled in the super over. Allied Bank smashed 11 runs and in reply, Meezan Bank could score only 5. Rizwan Aslam was named player of the match. The final will be played on December 16.