KARACHI: Azam Khan and Ammad Alam played blistering cameos to guide Karachi Whites to victory over Sialkot in the Super Eight stage match of the National T20 Cup 2023-24 at National Bank Stadium.
The Asad Shafiq-led team chased the 166-run target in 18 overs with six wickets to spare after restricting Sialkot to 165-9 in the first innings.
Sialkot won the toss and elected to bat first, but lost three batters inside the powerplay with the scorecard reading 57-3.
The fourth wicket fell on the last ball of the subsequent over, bringing the score to 60-4 in seven overs.
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Shoaib Malik, who came to the crease inside the powerplay after the fall of the second wicket, anchored the innings, hitting 54 from 44 deliveries including five fours and two sixes.
His effort helped take Sialkot to a respectable total as Sialkot captain Bilal Asif (22, 16b, 2x4s, 1×6) chipped in with some crucial runs as well.
Sohail Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Karachi Whites, as he returned with three wickets.
Right-arm fast bowler Aftab Ibrahim and left-arm spinner Danish Aziz had two scalps each while right-arm pacer Anwar Ali picked up a wicket as well.
Karachi Whites’ opening batter Ammad Alam took charge of the chase as he took only 16 deliveries to hit 43 runs, with two boundaries and five sixes.
However, His innings was cut short after he was caught off Usman Khalid’s bowling.
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Karachi Whites’ innings faltered in the middle as three more wickets fell and the scoring rate decreased.
Wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan brought back the momentum to the chase, picking up where Ammad had left off.
Azam produced an undefeated 59 from 24 balls, smashing six boundaries and four maximums, to see his side over the line with 12 deliveries to spare.
Right-arm pacer Mohammad Abbas and left-arm spinner Usman Khalid were the only two successful bowlers for Sialkot, yielding two wickets apiece as Karachi Whites successfully got to 166 with six wickets in the bag.
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