MULTAN: Balochistan’s left-handed opener Haseebullah scored a brilliant century before Kashif Bhatti starred with three wickets to power the side beat Sindh by 13 runs in a thrilling second semi-final of the ongoing Pakistan Cup, here on Wednesday.
Batting first, Balochistan steered to a commendable total of 263 before being bowled out in the 44th over, thanks to the brilliant century and half-century knocks from Haseebullah and Asad Shafiq respectively.
The left-handed opener stood firm and kept the scoreboard ticking single-handedly while his side was losing wickets at the other end. The young batter went on to score a gritty century and top-scored for his side with 131 off 114 balls.
The experienced batter Asad then also chipped in and scored a valiant half-century. The right-handed batter scored 64 off 69 deliveries.
The rest of the Balochistan batters, on the other hand, could not manage to contribute significantly to the team’s total.
For Sindh, Muhammad Umar and Sohail Khan took three wickets each, while Mir Hamza bagged two. Abrar Ahmad and Saim Ayub, on the other hand, struck out a batter each.
Set to chase 264, Sindh fell short 13 runs short as the side could only score 250/9 in the allotted 50 overs despite the fifties from Sharjeel Khan, Khurram Manzoor, and Omair Bin Yusuf.
The batters remained a touch too slow in scoring their fifties, while the failure of the rest of the batters also halted the side’s chances of qualifying into the final of the tournament.
Omair top-scored with 60, while Khurram and Sharjeel followed back with 55 and 50 respectively. Saim, on the other hand, chipped in with his 30 off 26 balls.
For Balochistan, Kashif led the way with three wickets, while Yasir Shah and Khurram Shahzad claimed two wickets each. Amad Butt, on the other hand, made one scalp.
