ISLAMABAD: Lahore’s Muhammad Rizwan played a sensible knock as Lahore defeated Peshawar by two wickets in a second-round nail-biter of the ongoing Pakistan T20 Blind Cricket Trophy, here on Friday.
In the third match of the ongoing second round of Blind T20 Trophy, Lahore sealed a thrilling victory over Peshawar by two wickets, thanks to the sensible knock of Rizwan.
Set to chase 194, Lahore were off to a poor start as the side lost early wickets. Muhammad Salman played a sensible knock of 50 runs on just 24 balls to give his side a boost but his wicket, however, resulted in the opposite.
Rizwan’s sensible knock of 39 then helped the side to reach the target for the loss of eight wickets in the 19th over.
Mohsin Khan remained the most successful bowler for Peshawar as he took three wickets.
Batting first Peshawar posted a decent 193/2 on the board in the allotted 20 overs, following another masterclass from the side’s dependable pair Sanaullah and Mohsin Khan. Sanaullah top-scored for the side with 83 off 61 balls while Mohsin followed back with 66 runs off 45 deliveries.
Muhammad Salman could manage to pick a wicket for Lahore as the rest went wicketless.
In another match, the home side of Islamabad thrashed Abbottabad by eight wickets to secure their second victory of the ongoing tournament.
Batting first, Abbottabad’s batting line-up failed completely and could only manage to score 138/8 in 20 overs. Naeemullah and Asnaad Khan were the main run-getters for the side as they scored 37 and 23 respectively.
Shahzaib Haider was the star with the ball for Islamabad taking three wickets for 21 runs in his four overs spell.
In reply, Islamabad comfortably chased down the target in 13 overs at the cost of a mere two wickets. Akmal Hayyat top-scored for the side with his brilliant 48, while Anees Javed and Shahzaib Haider also chipped in with 43 and 36 respectively.
Muhammad Shoaib and Irfanullah managed to make one scalp each for Abbottabad.
In the first match of the recently concluded second round, Faisal Mehmood’s heroics guided Azad Jammu and Kashmir to their second consecutive victory; defeating Okara by seven wickets.
Batting first, Okara could only manage to post 165/1 in 20 overs. Umar Daraz carried on his brilliant form and shone again for his side scoring 83 off 62 balls, while Faseeullah chipped in with a magnificent half-century scoring 56 off 38.
In the second innings, Okara’s total did not prove enough as AJK comfortably sealed the victory in the 17th over with seven wickets to spare. The national team’s skipper Nisar Ali faced a rare failure and could only manage to score 21.
Faisal’s brilliance, however, saved the day for the AJK as the batter shone with an unbeaten 74 off 49 balls and played an anchoring role in his side’s triumph.
In the fourth match of the second round, Gujranwala edged past Bahawalpur in a high-scoring thriller by seven wickets.
Batting first, Bahawalpur posted a mammoth 233/7 in 20 overs, thanks to Muhammad Rashid’s extraordinary knock of 88 runs off just 37 deliveries, laced with 17 boundaries. Moeen Aslam, on the other hand, also chipped in as he made 61 runs off 43 balls.
Muhammad Zafar’s 16-balls 32 runs knock added a little cherry on the top and lifted the run rate in the death overs.
In reply, the masterclass innings of Muhammad Akram helped Gujranwala to seal a thrilling victory. Akram scored an unbeaten 137 off 77 balls including 17 boundaries. Talha Iqbal made quick 29 runs.
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