Lahore outfits thump rivals to stay afloat

KARACHI: Lahore Whites and defending champions Lahore Blues pulled off identical wins to keep their semi-finals hopes alive on the 11th day of the National T20 Cup at Multan Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Lahore Whites overwhelmed former champions Peshawar by nine wickets. Meanwhile, Lahore Blues whipped FATA by nine wickets. Both Lahore’s outfits moved their points to six from six matches each.

FATA, with six points, still have a chance of qualifying for the pre-finals. The fourth loss from six meetings has left Peshawar with a minor chance. In the evening game, Rizwan Hussain and international all-rounder Hussain Talat did a fine job to gift a heavy win to Lahore Blues against FATA.

Rizwan (68*) and Talat (35*) enabled Lahore Blues to achieve the 141-run target with 11 balls to spare.Earlier, Hussain Talat took 3-22 in four overs to help Lahore Blues restrict FATA to 140-9 in the allotted 20 overs.

Chasing a tricky target on the spin-friendly track, Rizwan and Nauman Anwar (34) gave an electrifying 71 runs opening stand to Lahore Blues to make the chase easier for them.Nauman, who fell prey to Khushdil Shah, hit two sixes and four fours in his brisk 28-ball knock.

The 22-year-old Rizwan then shared 70 runs for the second wicket unbroken stand with Talat to take their side home safely.Rizwan, who scored his fourth T20 fifty which came off just 42 balls, smashed ten fours from just 53 balls. Talat hammered one four and one six in his solid 29-ball knock. Khushdil finished with 1-17 in two overs.

Asad Afridi remained the most expensive of FATA’s seven bowlers used in the game as he conceded 26 runs in only two overs.After being sent into bat, Sohail Akhtar once again with his mighty hitting created tempo for FATA by blasting 27-ball 39, while opening the innings with discarded international Mukhtar Ahmed who fell for 20-ball 18 which featured one six and one four.

Sohail, who was clean bowled with a nice yorker by fast bowler Waqas Ahmed, smashed three fours and two sixes in his handy knock.However, after his fall FATA lost momentum and kept losing wickets at regular intervals before being restricted behind 150. Asad Afridi, in the end, blasted 16-ball 25 with two fours and one six. Samiullah Junior, who batted at No 4, struck 25-ball 20 with one four. Hussain Talat was ably backed by Waqas Ahmed who claimed 2-27 in four overs. Talat was declared Man-of-the-Match for his fine all-round performance.

Earlier in the day, Peshawar continued with their pathetic batting performances and were bulldozed by Lahore Whites by nine wickets.Lahore Whites chased the 100-run target in 14.2 overs after losing skipper Salman Butt (6). Tayyab Tahir (51*) and Zeeshan Ashraf (39*) added 77 for the second-wicket unbroken association to make their side home comfortably.

Tahir smashed three fours and two sixes in his 41-ball knock. Zeeshan smacked three sixes from 30 deliveries.Spinner Sajid Khan got 1-30 in four overs. After being invited to bat, Peshawar’s wickets fell like nine pins and were dismissed for only 99, the lowest total of the event so far.

Only Saad Ali (37) and Sajid Khan (33*) could manage double figures. Peshawar at one stage were 22-6. However, both Sajid and Saad added 58 for the seventh wicket stand to prevent their side from complete destruction.

The left-handed Saad hammered three fours and a six from 31 balls. Sajid clobbered one four in his responsible 40-ball unfinished knock. Tall medium fast bowler Umaid Asif was the main destroyer as he picked 4-13 in his quota of four overs. Spinner Zafar Gohar ably supported Umaid with 3-12 in four overs. Umaid was adjudged as Man-of-the-Match.