KARACHI: In the ongoing Pakistan Cup, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) alongside Sindh and Southern Punjab won their respective matches to secure sixth-round victories over Northern, Balochistan, and Central Punjab (CP) respectively.
In the 18th match of the ongoing tournament, the defending champions KPK sealed a convincing 29 runs victory over SP to consolidate to close the gap on Balochistan at the top position.
After opting to bat first, KPK posted a commendable 279/9 in the allotted 50 overs, thanks to the astonishing century from Kamran Ghulam.
The right-handed batter went big and scored 118 off 100 balls, laced with seven boundaries and six sixes, while the rest of the batters contributed fair enough. Fakhar Zaman was the second top-scorer for the side with his 31.
For Northern, Aamir Jamal, Imad Wasim, and Salman Irshad bagged two wickets each, while Shadab Khan managed to make one scalp.
Set to chase 280, Northern could only manage to score 250 despite the fifties from Asif Ali, Nasir Nawaz, and Imad. Umar Amin also chipped in with his 37 but that too could not steer the home side to the victory as they fell short of 29 runs.
Asif Afridi and Khalid Usman led the way with the ball for KPK; both taking three wickets, while Arshad Iqbal, Adil Amin, Fakhar, and Mohammad Wasim Jnr made one scalp each.
In another match of the ongoing Pakistan Cup, Sindh completed a thumping nine-wickets victory over Balochistan.
In the first innings, five-fers from Sohail Khan and Danish Aziz wreaked havoc over Balochistan’s batting line-up as the latter could only manage to score 126.
Sharjeel Khan and Khurram Manzoor then scored half-centuries to propel the side to complete a crushing victory. Khurram scored 53, while Sharjeel top-scored with 56; smashing six boundaries and three sixes. Both the batters remained unbeaten in the run chase.
For Balochistan, only Akif Javed managed to pick a wicket.
In the 17th match of the tournament, SP stunned CP in a high-scoring thriller by two wickets.
Batting first, CP’s openers Rizwan Hussain and Ahmed Shehzad provided a flying start to the side as they put on a magnificent 243-runs partnership for the first wicket.
Their opening stand bolstered the side to amass a massive total of 366/7 in the allotted 50 overs. Rizwan scored 100 off 104 balls, while Ahmed top-scored with his outstanding 158 off 127 balls with the help of 20 boundaries and five sixes.
Following their departure, the rest of the batters made small contributions and took the side to a massive total.
Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah bagged two wickets each for SP, while Muhammad Imran, Zia-ul-Haq, and Mohammad Abbas Afridi made one scalp each.
Set to chase a mammoth, Tayyab Tahir went big and delivered a terrific performance top of the order. He top-scored for his side with a huge 169 runs off just 140 balls including 15 boundaries and five sixes.
Salman, on the other hand, also chipped in and scored a quick 74 off 57 balls to set his side to chase down the mammoth.
The rest of the batters then made small yet handy contributions and steer the side to the victory on the final delivery of the match.
For CP, Usman Qadir and Hussain Talat claimed three wickets each, while Ahmed Bashir struck out a batter.
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