Khushdil Shah’s blitz in vain as Dolphins edge Lions in a last-over thriller

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.

While defending 326, Dolphins restricted Lions to 310-8 to claim their first victory in the Champions One-Day Cup.

Lions started the chase with a solid opening partnership of 78 runs between Abdullah Shafique (27) and Rohail Nazir, who was playing his first match of the tournament.

Sufiyan Muqeem provided the first breakthrough with the wicket of Abdullah, bringing Omair Bin Yousuf to the crease.

Rohail and Omair put together 50 runs for the second wicket before Dolphins’ skipper Saud Shakeel removed both batters in consecutive overs.

Rohail top-scored for Lions with a 62-run knock from 70 balls, which featured six boundaries and one six, while Omair scored 26 off 27.

Mohammad Taha then scored a 49-ball knock of 40 runs to keep the scoreboard moving, however, he could not find support from the other end, which resulted in climbing the required rate.

Qasim Akram castled Taha after which Lions’ captain Shaheen Afridi joined Khushdil Shah on the crease with 114 runs required from 12 overs.

Shaheen got retired hurt after scoring 6 off 9, but he returned to bat after Faheem Ashraf removed Aamir Jamal (4).

Lions needed 81 runs from the last six overs, which soon became 81 needed off five overs, courtesy of Faheem’s wicket-maiden over.

However, Khushdil and Shaheen turned the match on its head with their belligerent hitting in the death overs, striking sixes at regular intervals.

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Khushdil hit three sixes off Abbas Afridi in the 48th over to complete his half-century in 33 balls. However, Abbas’ last over sealed the game for Dolphins as Lions failed to score 23 runs from that over.

Khushdil departed on the penultimate ball after scoring 60 off 40 with the help of fix sixes and four boundaries. Meanwhile, Shaheen remained unbeaten at 33 off 28 which featured five sixes.

For Dolphins, Saud Shakeel and Abbas Afridi claimed two wickets each, while Mir Hamza, Faheem Ashraf, Qasiim Akram and Sufiyan Muqeem bagged one wicket each.

Earlier, Dolphins opted to bat first but 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.

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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