Arham, Sajjad, Basit excel for Bahawalpur in PJL

LAHORE: Bahawalpur Royals outclassed Hyderabad Hunters by eight wickets in their match of the Pakistan Junior League (PJL) at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Friday.

Arham Nawab and Sajjad Ali justified their captain Obaid Shahid’s decision to field first when they shared six wickets between them to bowl Hyderabad Hunters out for 113 in 18.3 overs.

Opener Basit Ali then stroked a sparkling half-century as Bahawalpur Royals achieved the target with more than seven overs to spare.

Hyderabad Hunters lost Arbaz Khan in the second over but captain Saad Baig (34) and Moiz Rana (21) repaired the damage by putting on 47 runs for the second wicket. Saad’s departure at the score of 61 in the seventh over trigerred a collapse as Hyderabad Hunters lost their last eight wickets for 52 runs.

After Johan Mahne provided an early breakthrough, Nathan Edward broke the dangerous-looking second-wicket partnership by removing Saad before Arham and Sajjad ran through the middle-order to dismiss Hyderabad Hunters.

Arham returned figures of 4-0-15-3, while Sajjad recorded figures of 2.3-0-21-3.

Basit dominated the run-chase with a 30-ball 54 that included 11 fours. He was the second batter out at the score of 69 in 7.1 overs, before captain Obaid Shahid (32 not out) and Shawaiz Irfan (18 not out) added 48 runs for the third wicket to steer Bahawalpur Royals to victory in 12.4 overs.

Scores in brief

Hyderabad Hunters 113 all out, 18.3 overs (Saad Baig 34, Muneeb Wasif 26, Moiz Rana 21; Arham Nawab 3-15, Sajjad Ali 3-21).

Bahawalpur Royals 117-2, 12.4 overs (Basit Ali 54, Obaid Shahid 32 not out).

Player of the match – Arham Nawab (Bahawalpur Royals).