FAISALABAD: Khushdil Shah’s blistering half-century went in vain as Abbas Afridi held on to his nerves to steer Dolphins to a thrilling last-over victory over Lions in the 10th match of the Champions One-Day Cup here at Iqbal Stadium on Sunday.
After opting to bat, Dolphins lost Sahibzada Farhan early with a meagre 35 runs on the board before Muhammad Hurraira and Muhammad Akhlaq helped the team recover with their brisk strokeplay.
Hurraira (47 off 41) and Akhlaq put together a 77-run stand for the second wicket in 61 balls to push Dolphins total to 112 in the 16th over before Ahmed Daniyal removed the former.
Meanwhile, Aamir Jamal removed Akhlaq to force Lions’ comeback in the game. Akhlaq played a quick innings of 52 runs from 50 balls with three boundaries and four sixes.
Captain Saud Shakeel then played a run-a-ball knock of 23 runs during a partnership of 53 runs with Umar Amin.
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Shaheen Afridi removed new batter Asif Ali (7), bringing Qasim Akram (31 off 26) to the crease, who put together a 62-run stand with Umar Amin.
Ahmed Daniyal ended Qasim’s knock before Khushdil Shah removed Dolphins’ top-scorer Umar Amin, who scored 75 runs from 81 balls with the help of nine fours.
Faheem Ashraf then played a quick knock of 30 runs from 20 balls before Lions bundled Dolphins for 326 runs in the last over.
Aamir Jamal led the bowling attack with three wickets, while Ahmed Daniyal and Shaheen Afridi bagged two wickets each.
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