Rawalpindi: Balochistan’s captain Imam-ul-Haq has been advised to have three-day rest by the doctors after he suffered scratches on his rib cage yesterday.
Imam is not part of the side today against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 15th match of the National T20 Cup. Bismillah Khan is leading Balochistan in his absence.
Imam will leave for Lahore and join the side during second leg, scheduled in Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium from October 6.
It must be noted that Imam was admitted to a hospital after he suffered an injury while colliding with the boundary boards as he tried to stop a boundary.
He was taken away on a stretcher after the team’s physiotherapist treated him initially. Later in the day, the injury was not serious as the X-ray had shown that Imam’s ribs were not fractured.
Rawalpindi: Sindh retained their top position on the points table in the National T20 Cup with a three-run win via the DLS method against Northern in the 14th match.
Heavy rain brought a halt with Northern 62 for three (7.3 overs) in their 177-run chase. After the rain ended, a wet outfield forced the match to be abandoned.
The ball before the rain interruption earned Sindh Nasir Nawaz’s wicket that turned the DLS equation in their favour. Northern needed to be 66 for three to earn the victory on the DLS method at that stage of the match. Nasir was caught attempting a big shot off Danish Aziz.
Nasir top-scored for Northern with 27 off 19 balls (three fours, one six). Haider Ali scored 11 while Imad Wasim was batting on 13 when the rain arrived.
Sindh now have eight points from five games while Northern have accumulated six from five matches.
Earlier, Northern won the toss and opted to bowl. Sindh lost Shan Masood for one in the second over of the innings. Sharjeel Khan took the attack to the Northern bowlers in a 52-run stand for the second-wicket with Khurram Manzoor (15).
After Khurram’s departure, Sharjeel continued his onslaught, the left-hander played a series of attacking shots and only a superb diving catch at the mid-wicket fence by Haris ended his 64-run innings. Sharjeel faced 43 balls and hit 10 fours and two sixes.
Saud Shakeel made another useful contribution before being dismissed by Salman Irshad for 28. Salman then got rid of Anwar Ali (13) with another slower ball. Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed chipped in with a useful 26 off 18 balls (two fours).
Rumman Raees ended the Sindh innings on a high with two big sixes (one each in the penultimate and the final over). For Northern Salman, Shadab Khan and Musa Khan took two wickets apiece. Haris who bowled a fiery opening spell gave away only 22 runs in his four overs.
RAWALPINDI: Balochistan’s top-order drove them to a second win in National T20 Cup as they beat Southern Punjab (SP) by eight wickets in 13th match.
Openers Abdullah Shafique and Abdul Wahid Banglazai provided a solid 84-run stand to Balochistan after they were set to chase 175 runs in 20 overs.
Bothe youngsters made the most of the conditions and outclassed opponents with quality batting. Abdullah, who stood out as opener in place Imam-ul-Haq (got injured while fielding), scored 44 runs off 28 balls with five boundaries and a six.
Abdul Wahid Banglzai made 50 off 42 balls laced with seven boundaries. Haris Sohail remained not out for 47 and anchored Balochistan to their second win. Sohail Akhtar contributed 16.
Aamer Yamin and Umer Khan took a wicket each for SP.
Earlier, Sohaib Maqsood scored 54 followed by skipper Aamer’s quick 25 helped SP post defendable 174-9 against Balochistan.
Sohaib continued his form from the previous match and scored 54 off 34 balls laced with six boundaries and two sixes to provide a solid rhythm to SP who lost three quick wickets.
He alongside Hassan Khan scored 71 runs to take SP from 28-3 to 99-3. Hassan scored 28 runs off 22 balls with the help of three sixes.
Khushdil Shah made 25 off 22 followed by an anchor role from skipper Aamer. He made quick 25 off 12 balls including two boundaries and as many sixes. Umer Khan, in the end, smashed three boundaries to score 12 off 5 deliveries.
For Balochistan, Junaid Khan and Umaid Asif bagged three wickets each while Khurram Shahzad took two. Haris managed to take the wicket of Azam Khan who scored two runs.
Rawalpindi: Balochistan’s captain Imam-ul-Haq has been taken on a stretcher after he collided with a boundary board during fielding in National T20 Cup’s encounter against Southern Punjab.
According to details, Imam has suffered scratches on the rib cage and has been taken to the hospital for further x-rays.
During the third over of Southern Punjab’s inning, Imam made a top effort and ran from mid-on to stop a boundary but collided with an advertising board while diving.
RAWALPINDI: Sohaib Maqsood took a break from captaincy in National T20 Cup to concentrate more on his batting before the all-important T20 World Cup.
Maqsood, who was captaining Southern Punjab (SP) in the event, wants to feel fresh before the mega multi-nation event.
“Sohaib Maqsood has withdrawn himself from the captaincy position as he wants to keep his mind fresh and relaxed ahead of the T20 World Cup,” SP’s management said in a statement.
It must be noted here that Maqsood gained his form back in the previous match against Northern by scoring 47-ball 75. Currently, SP is playing against Balochistan and Maqsood is leading the charge, nearer to his yet another half-century in this event.