Peshawar take on Sialkot, Multan face Karachi Blues

KARACHI: Israrullah and Imran Khan Junior enabled defending champions Peshawar to qualify for the semi-finals when they overwhelmed star-studded Karachi Blues by seven wickets in their last Group B match of the National T20 Cup in Rawalpindi on Sunday.
Shoaib Malik-led Sialkot also blasted their way into the last-four when they demolished Bahawalpur by ten wickets in Group A.
Being group champions Peshawar will now face Group A runners-up Sialkot in the semi-final on Monday (today) at 8pm.
In the first semi-final, Group A winners Multan will be pitted against Group B runners-up Karachi Blues at 4pm.
Both the semi-finals will be held at the Pindi Stadium.
Peshawar strongly recovered from their shocking loss against Abbottabad and outclassed Karachi Blues who were without Shahid Afridi. Test pacer Mohammad Sami had already been forced out of the event due to a groin injury.
Imran Junior picked 4-24 in four overs as Peshawar restricted Karachi Blues to 156-7.
Khalid Latif struck 34-ball 40 with two sixes and four fours. After Imran Khan Senior removed Khurram Manzoor (9), Khalid dominated a 40-run second wicket stand with Asad Shafiq (14). Fawad Alam (37) then added 52 off 35 balls for the fifth wicket with skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed (23).
Fawad hit four fours from 28 deliveries, while Sarfraz struck three fours from 18 balls.
Imran Junior was ably backed by his skipper Zohaib Khan who took 2-26 with his left-arm spin.
Israrulah hit his career-best 82 off 52 deliveries as Peshawar reached the target with 12 balls to spare. The left-handed opener smashed 13 fours in his gallant knock.
He added 43 off 23 balls for the second wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed (19) and then shared 91 for the third wicket with Mohammad Rizwan (40*).
Rizwan smacked two fours and a six in his 35-ball knock.
Anwar Ali (1-28), Rumman Raees (1-35) and spinner Fawad Khan (1-34) were the successful bowlers.
At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad, young medium-pacer Hasan Ali (4-11) produced his career-best figures as Sialkot restricted Bahawalpur to only 96-7.
Skipper Kamran Hussain scored 33-ball 43 which featured three sixes and one four. Usama Mir grabbed 2-7.
Sialkot raced to the target in 7.4 overs without losing a wicket.
Mukhtar Ahmed clobbered 55 not out off 32 balls with nine fours and a six. Nauman Anwar struck 23-ball 45 with six fours and two sixes.
In Group B, Abbottabad defeated Islamabad by six wickets to finish with three victories.
Fakhar Zaman blasted 78 off 39 balls with 14 fours and a six to enable Abbottabad to achieve the 147-run target in 15.1 overs.
Skipper Younis Khan belted 18-ball 31 with two sixes and two fours.
Zohaib Ahmed, Zafar Gohar, Muni-ur-Rehman and Imad Wasim took one wicket each.
Shan Masood (36) and Shahid Yousuf (34) had enabled Islamabad to post 146.
Paceman Mohammad Naeem pulled off his career-best figures of 5-31 from four overs. Kamran Ghulam picked 2-27.
In another Group B show, Lahore Whites ended their journey with two victories when they overpowered Faisalabad by six wickets.
Raheel Ameer slammed a 55-ball 87 with six sixes and three fours to guide Faisalabad to 140-7.
Test pacer Mohammad Irfan got 3-9 in four overs.
Lahore Whites achieved the target with eight balls to spare. Saad Nasim struck unbeaten 20-ball 37, in which he hit three sixes and three fours.
Skipper Azhar Ali (35) and Umar Siddiq (34) also batted well. Test pacer Ehsan Adil captured 2-16.
In a Group A clash on Saturday night, Sialkot defeated Rawalpindi by 19 runs.
Haris Sohail (50) and Shoaib Malik (48) enabled Sialkot to pile up 176-4.
Yasir Arafat and spinner Mohammad Asghar got one wicket each.
Rawalpindi crumbled under pressure and were restricted to 157-7. Sohail Tanvir entertained the crowd with 21-ball 37 which had three sixes and three fours.
Spinner Bilal Asif (2-26), Bilawal Bhatti (2-30) and Hasan Ali (2-32) bowled well.

Points Table
Group A M W L Pts NRR
Multan 5 4 1 8 +0.477
Sialkot 5 4 1 8 +1.407
Rawalpindi 4 2 2 4 +0.258
Bahawalpur 5 2 3 4 -1.444
Karachi Whites 5 1 4 2 -0.060
Hyderabad 4 1 3 2 -0.618

Group B
Peshawar 5 4 1 8 +0.517
Karachi Blues 5 4 1 8 +0.613
Abbottabad 5 3 2 6 +1.081
Lahore Whites 5 2 3 4 -0.962
Islamabad 5 1 4 2 -0.657
Faisalabad 5 1 4 2 -0.530