Danish Aziz powers Sindh to win over Central Punjab

RAWALPINDI: Former Pakistan U19 batsman Danish Aziz saved Sindh’s blushes with a half-century that also overshadowed Central Punjab’s Babar Azam’s second successive half-century and spirited bowling performance from Waqas Ahmed in the 18th match of the PKR 9million National T20 Cup at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday evening.

Danish clubbed five fours and three sixes in a 32-ball 59 not out as Sindh, chasing 171 for victory and after slipping to 16 for two and then 53 for four, romped to victory with three wickets and five balls to spare.

Danish had walked out to bat after Khurram Manzoor (six), Sharjeel Khan (six), Sarfaraz Ahmed (10) and Asad Shafiq (11) had returned to the hut. He added 44 runs for the fifth wicket with Azam Khan, who dominated the stand with a 23-ball 32.The 24-year-old then put on 57 crucial runs for the sixth wicket with Hassan Khan (36 off 15 balls, 2x4, 4x6) to bring Sindh within touching distance.

And although Hassan and Anwar Ali departed with nine runs still required, Danish kept his cool as a Waqas Maqsood wide bouncer earned Sindh their second win in six matches and handed Central Punjab their fifth loss in seven matches.

Northern lead the pack with five wins from six matches, followed by Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (four wins a piece in six matches each).

Southern Punjab is languishing at the bottom of the six-team table with one win in five matches.

With the top four sides to progress to the semi-finals, Sindh and the two Punjab sides will fight tooth and nail in the upcoming matches to seal places for the October 17 play-offs.

For Central Punjab, fast bowler Waqas Ahmed, who replaced an injured Naseem Shah, returned impressive figures of 3.1-0-14-3, while Zafar Gohar took two for 28 and Ehsan Adil bagged two for 45.

Earlier, Sindh displayed greasy palms but also showed glimpses of brilliance in the field and executed excellent death over bowling to restrict Central Punjab to 170 for six after sending them into bat.

Sindh showed special generosity towards Babar Azam by dropping him twice in the first 13 balls that allowed the local cricket fans to enjoy the world’s second-ranked batsman’s classy 86 on PTV Sports and overseas followers on delayed live-stream on the PCB YouTube Channel.