Rawalpindi: Northern completed a 14-run win over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 17th match of the National T20 Cup here at Pindi Cricket Stadium.
They restricted KP to 167/8 while defending 182. Northern cruised to the third spot behind KP and Sindh but have the same eight points in six matches.
Haris Rauf once again starred for Northern, bagging three wickets for 31 while Mohammad Nawaz took two for 26.
KP had hoped from Iftikhar Ahmed and he tried his level best but fell to Haris in 17th over. Iftikhar scored 58 off 34 balls which included five sixes and two fours.
Earlier, Northern posted a fighting total of 181/7 in 20 overs, thanks to all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan’s fifth-wicket stand.
KP completely hold the game in the first half of the innings with Shaheen Shah Afridi removing two wickets in opening over.
Nasir Nawaz and Umer Amin tried to rescue but they went back to pavilion in quick succession, leaving Northern to 55/4 in 8.1 overs.
Nawaz was joined by skipper Shadab and Pakistan regulars pushed KP with an attacking partnership of 89 runs. Mohammad Nawaz (51) scored his second fifty of the competition. In his 34-ball innings, the left-hander strokes three sixes and four.
Meanwhile, Shadab smacked 46 off 27 balls, powered by six fours and two sixes. Towards the backend, hard-hitter Asif Ali led Northern to 181 by scoring 21 off 11 balls.
Apart from Shaheen’s two for 30, Asif Afridi, Imran Khan SNR and Israrullah claimed a wicket each.
