RAWALPINDI: Panthers overwhelmed a hapless Dolphins by six wickets at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in the Champions T20 Cup clash on Monday, with Mohammad Wasim Jr. and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai starring in the win.
Wasim Jr. impeded Dolphins’s sailing with figures of 3-28 in his four incisive overs and was ably supported by spinner Arafat Minhas (2-11) and all-rounder Amad Butt (2-12) to keep their opponents down to 106-9 in 20 overs.
The win helped the Panthers get to six points in the Champions T20 Cup points table with three wins and as many defeats while the Dolphins sunk to a fifth defeat in as many matches.
Losing opener Sahibzada Farhan off the third ball of the innings to fast-rising pacer Ali Raza jolted the Dolphins from which they could never recover. Mirza Tahir Baig hit a rapid 13-ball 19 with a six and two boundaries but Wasim dislodged him in the sixth over.
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Mohammad Huraira fell for a three-ball duck and Umar Amin managed just four. It was left to skipper Faheem Ashraf (25), Muhammad Akhlaq (19) and Qasim Akram (14) to get the team past the 100-run mark. Faheem’s 34-ball fight had one boundary and a six.
Dolphins’s pacer Sameen Gul dismissed Umar Siddiq for five and Shadab Khan without scoring to leave the chase in tatters at 2-9. It became 3-14 when Ihsanullah accounted for Mubasir Khan, who returned for a four-ball duck.
But Abdul Waheed Bangalzai and Danish Aziz set the chase back on track with a solid 82-run stand for the fourth wicket. Bangalzai’s 38-ball 51 had two sixes and six boundaries. Danish hit a 34-ball 38 not out with three boundaries and a six as the chase was completed in 15 overs.
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