Stallions gallop into Super Eight T20 final

KARACHI: Youngsters Nauman Anwar, Usama Mir and Bilal Asif put Sialkot Stallions in the final when they demolished Karachi Dolphins by 65 runs in the first semi-final of the Haier Super Eight T20 Cup at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, on Sunday.
Nauman blasted 43-ball 80 to guide Sialkot Stallions to 167 all out in 19.4 overs.
Spinners Usama (3-16) and Bilal (3-20) then bowled splendidly to dismiss Dolphins for 102 in 17 overs.
After being put into bat, Nauman led Stallions’ batting by scoring a blistering fifty. The Gujranwala-born right-hander played some superb strokes and completed his half century off only 28 deliveries.
The 19-year-old smacked five sixes and nine fours. He made 74 with Mukhtar Ahmed (25) for the opening stand. Mukhtar hit three fours from 19 deliveries before being bowled by left-arm spinner Faraz Ahmed (3-30).
Nauman then put on 41 off 22 balls with Bilal Asif (25) before the former was dislodged by Faraz. Stallions were 115-2 in 11.2 overs at that stage.
Faraz also had Bilal before Haris Sohail (0) got run out to leave Stallions at 137-4 in 14 overs.
Stallions had been set to score a huge total but left-arm medium pacer Abdul Ameer (3-38) took three wickets in an over to keep them in check.
Skipper Shoaib Malik belted 21-ball 22 with one straight six off spinner Fawad Khan, who took 2-39 from 3.4 overs.
Karachi Dolphins had a murky start to their chase when left-arm spinner Sultan Ahmed got rid of Fazal Subhan (4) in the first over. Bilawal Bhatti removed Asad Shafiq (5) to leave Dolphins at 27-2 in the fourth over.
Usama got rid of Shahzaib Hasan (20), Rameez Raja (24) and Mohammad Waqas (29) in quick succession to dash Dolphins’ hopes of qualifying for the final.
Bilal finished off the lower order to dismiss Dolphins at the lowest total of the tournament so far.
Ali Khan got 2-2 in one over.
Stallions’ captain Shoaib Malik credited their region’s administration for their success.
“Sialkot are successful not only in T20 but also in longer formats. The credit goes to the region’s presidents who give the captain full authority and select deserving players,” Malik said.
Dolphins’ skipper Mohammad Sami said Stallions bowled tightly.
“Stallions bowled really well that snatched the game from us,” he said.
“There were certain positives in the shape of Mohammad Waqas and Shahzaib Hasan who played well,” said Sami, who had to serve as skipper in the last two outings in the absence of Sarfraz Ahmed, who is going to get married.
Nauman Anwar was adjudged man-of-the-match for his whirlwind knock.
The final will be held on Monday (today).
On Saturday night, Karachi Dolphins overwhelmed Faisalabad Wolves by six wickets to move into the semi-finals.
Test-discard Mohammad Sami picked 3-19 from four overs to restrict Faisalabad Wolves to 144-9.
Jahandad Khan scored 44-ball 53 which had five fours and two sixes. After Wolves lost Bilal Shah (16) and Khurram Shehzad (4) cheaply, Jahandad shared 56 runs for the third wicket with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, who scored 36-ball 30 which featured two sixes and a four.
Asif Ali then hit 15-ball 22 with two sixes and a four.
Anwar Ali, Fawad Khan and Faraz Ahmed claimed two wickets each.
Shahzaib Hasan smashed an explosive 34-ball 59 with five sixes and two fours to enable Dolphins to reach the target with 13 balls to spare after losing four wickets.
Rameez Raja (25), Mohammad Waqas (22*) and Asad Shafiq (17) also made valuable contributions.
Sadaqat Ali got 2-17 from four overs. Samiullah Niazi and Saeed Ajmal captured one wicket each. Ajmal conceded 34 runs from three overs.
Shahzaib was declared man-of-the-match.