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Fakhar, Shaheen top charts in National T20 Cup

By Our Correspondent
October 20, 2020

LAHORE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Fakhar Zaman and Shaheen Afridi topped the batting and bowling charts, respectively, in the National T20 Cup which concluded on Sunday.

Left-handed opener Fakhar scored 420 runs, while tall left-arm pacer Shaheen grabbed 20 wickets. Fakhar’s tally of 420 runs is the second highest in one edition of the National T20 Cup and only 12 behind Kamran Akmal, who accumulated 432 runs for Lahore Whites in the 2017 edition.

Fakhar scored five fifties, including 67 off 40 balls in the final. Shaheen joined Saeed Ajmal, who took 20 wickets in the 2016 edition. The left-arm quick took 13 wickets in the powerplay overs, which is by far the most by any bowler. He struck in his opening spell in nine out of 10 games. There is no bowler in the world who has more T20 wickets than Shaheen (44) this year.

The highest scoring T20 event in Pakistan The overall run-rate in National T20 Cup this year was 8.93, making it the highest scoring T20 tournament in Pakistan. The National T20 Cups in 2017 and 2019 both recorded 8.34.

In 33 matches this year, there were 15 totals of 200 or more, including 206 for four by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the final against Southern Punjab. It was only the second time that the 200-barrier was crossed in the final of a National T20 Cup. The first such instance was in 2010 when Lahore Lions posted 221 for three against Karachi Dolphins at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

The fastest hundred

There were some extraordinary performances from the young talented cricketers in the National T20 Cup for First XIs. One of the highlights of the tournament was Khushdil Shah’s 100 off 35 balls for Southern Punjab in a 217-run chase against Sindh. It was the fastest T20 hundred scored by a batsman from Pakistan, beating Ahmed Shehzad’s 40-ball effort for Barisal Burners in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2012.

The previous fastest 100 recorded on Pakistan soil was Bilal Asif’s 43-ball century on T20 debut for Sialkot Stallions against Abbottabad Falcons in Faisalabad in 2015.

Only four batsmen in the world – Andrew Symonds (34 balls), Wihan Lubbe (33), Rishabh Pant (32) and Chris Gayle (30) – have scored a century in fewer balls in T20 cricket than Khushdil.

Big-hits galore

Khushdil’s strike-rate in the tournament was 177.45 – the highest among batsmen with at least 200 runs. His 25 sixes were the most by any batsman.