KARACHI: The table-toppers of the ongoing Pakistan Cup Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) alongside Sindh and Balochistan won their respective matches to secure fifth-round victories over Northern, Southern Punjab (SP), and Central Punjab (CP) respectively.
In the 14th match of the ongoing tournament, KPK sealed a thrilling last-over victory over Northern at the back of Mohammad Sarwar Afridi’s brilliant century.
Set to chase 270, the defending champions sealed the victory in the final over despite a poor start as the side lost their first three wickets for a mere 44.
Sarwar and Adil Amin then partnered strongly for the fourth wicket and pulled their side out of the trouble. The pair added a magnificent 139-runs for the fourth wicket to anchor the run chase before the latter fell short after scoring an important half-century.
Adil scored 60 off 88 balls with the help of three boundaries and a six, while Sarwar top-scored for his side with an astonishing century. The right-handed batter scored 119 off 160 balls; smashing 12 boundaries and a six.
Following their departure, young wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Haris made sure to drive his side to victory as the right-handed batter scored an unbeaten 38.
For Northern, Imad Wasim claimed two wickets, while Asif Ali and Musa Khan struck out a batter each.
Batting first, Northern finished at 269/7 in the allotted 50 overs, thanks to the brilliant century from Umar Amin.
The left-handed batter top-scored for his side with an unbeaten 124 off 221 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and two sixes, while the rest of the batters could not contribute significantly. Rohail Nazir, with his 33, remained the second top-scorer for the home side.
For KPK, Sarwar led the bowling charts too by taking three wickets, while Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Khalid Usman, and Adil made one scalp each.
In another match of the ongoing Pakistan Cup, Balochistan thumped SP by a massive margin of 105 runs.
Batting first, Balochistan posted a mammoth 320/4 runs as Haseebullah and Asad Shafiq scored brilliant centuries. Asad scored a quick 101 off just 97 balls, while Haseebullah top-scored with his 142 off 190 balls with the help of 20 boundaries and a six.
Imran Butt and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai also chipped in with their 34 each respectively as the side finished at 320/4 in the allotted 50 overs.
For SP, Aamer Yamin, Muhammad Imran, and Hassan Khan made one scalp each.
Set to chase a mammoth, SP could only manage to score 215 before being bowled out in 41 overs.
SP’s top-order batter Sharoon Siraj and the explosive left-handed Khushdil Shah resited a bit; both scoring half-centuries, while the rest of the batters failed to contribute significantly in the run chase.
Khushdil scored 50 off 54 balls, Sharoon top-scored with 62 off 104 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries.
For Balochistan, Yasir Shah shone with a five-fer, while Kashif Bhatti picked three wickets. Amad Butt and Akif Javed, on the other hand, struck out a batter each.
In the 15th match of the ongoing tournament, Sindh edged past CP by three wickets in a low scoring thriller.
Set to chase a mere 135, Sindh lost their first four wickets with just 45 runs on the board. The experienced batter Khurram Manzoor, however, anchored the run chase with his gritty 42; top-scoring for the side, while Mohammad Hassan followed back with his unbeaten 30.
Danish Aziz, on the other hand, also scored runs for the team as the left-handed batter scored 27 off 74 balls to steer his side to the victory.
For CP, Usman Qadir took three wickets, while Raza Ali Dar bagged two. Ahmed Bashir, on the other hand, made one scalp.
Batting first, SP’s batting line-up failed and could only manage to score 134 before being bowled out in 29 overs.
The experienced batter Umar Akmal top-scored with his valiant 39, while Rizwan Hussain followed back with his 28.
For Sindh, Shahnawaz Dahani and Abrar Ahmed took three wickets each, while Sohail Khan bagged two. Mir Hamza and Danish, on the other hand, struck out a batter each.
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