Peshawar, FATA record wins in National T20 Cup

KARACHI: Peshawar and FATA recorded much-needed wins to stay alive on the eighth day of the National T20 Cup at Multan Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Powered by 43 from Saad Ali and unbeaten 41 from Mohammad Waqas Junior, former champions Peshawar overpowered Islamabad by three wickets, their second victory, in the eight-team event.

FATA outclassed Rawalpindi by six wickets to surge to the third spot with four points from four meetings.In the Peshawar-Islamabad outing, Waqas batted bravely to secure a last-ball win for Peshawar, who now have four points from four appearances.

Chasing 136, Peshawar needed nine in the last over from Test seamer Junaid Khan and two off the last ball. The right-handed Waqas intelligently nudged the ball towards the on-side and took a couple to bring in a sensational win. “The management gave me confidence and that worked,” said Waqas, who smashed two sixes and one four in his 25-ball knock.

After losing openers Sahibzada Farhan (8) and Fawad Khan (0) in quick succession, left-handed Saad Ali (43) and Israrullah (24) put on 49 for the third wicket. Paceman Ahmed Bashir gave a vital breakthrough to Islamabad when he bowled Israr, who hit two fours from 28 deliveries. Bashir also took the vital wicket of Saad at a stage when Peshawar needed 41 from four overs. Karachi-born Saad smashed four fours from 37 deliveries.Ahmed Bashir was the pick of the bowlers with 3-30 in four overs. Test-pacer Sohail Khan got 2-33 in four overs which included the prized scalp of Farhan.

After being sent into bat, Islamabad’s innings revolved around in-form Abid Ali, who chipped in with a 38-ball 47, hitting two sixes and three fours.Abid added 53 for the fourth wicket with Test cricketer Iftikhar Ahmed, who hit 24-ball 21 with two fours.

Spinner Sajid Khan removed Abid and Iftikhar off two successive deliveries in the 14th over to bring Islamabad under pressure. Adeel Malik hit a rapid 21-ball 30 in the death overs to take Islamabad to a fighting total.

Adeel smashed three fours and a six from 21-ball balls. Left-arm pacer Waqas Maqsood (2-33) and Sajid Khan (2-25) bowled well. Waqas was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Islamabad’s captain Imad Wasim said they were a few runs short. “It would have been better if we had scored 145 to 150. The pitch was not difficult. The ball was keeping a bit low but there was no break,” Imad said.

He said that his batsmen would need to play positive cricket.Peshawar’s skipper Imran Khan Senior was happy that he got his three key players in the side. “Our bowling was good but we were lacking in batting. But it’s good that we got Waqas, Saad and Farhan in the side,” Imran said.

FATA rode on the heroics of Khushdil Shah and Adil Amin to register their second victory when they overwhelmed Rawalpindi by six wickets.

Khushdil smacked six sixes and two fours in his 40-ball explosive 65 to enable the tribesmen to achieve the 140-run target with six balls to spare. Hammad Azam got 2-22 in three overs. After deciding to bat first, Umar Amin’s Rawalpindi managed only 139-9.

Discarded Test opener Sami Aslam hit 36-ball 37 with four fours and Zahid Mansoor smashed a quick-fire 18-ball 30 with two sixes and one four.Near the end, a nine-ball 20 not out from Khalid Usman took Rawalpindi to a good total. Khalid scored 18 runs in the final over from Zia-ul-Haq, hitting the left-armer for four successive fours. Adil Amin bowled superbly, picking 3-14 in four overs.

Skipper Asif Afridi (2-29) and Mohammad Irfan Junior (2-16) ably backed Adil. Khushdil was declared the Man of the match.Today’s fixtures: Lahore Whites v Multan (11am), Karachi Whites v Lahore Blues (3pm).