LAHORE - Superb and fierce knocks of Anwar Ali and Khushdil Shah guided Balochistan to a well-deserving 4-wicket triumph over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in another high-scoring match of the Day/Night Pakistan Cup 2018 at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Monday.

International player Anwar Ali and Khushdil Shah were the heroes of the day for Balochistan as they played key role in their team’s triumph in the last overs by contributing significant 80 runs for the seventh-wicket partnership which proved good enough for Balochistan to register victory. Anwar smashed unbeaten 58 off just 16 deliveries with the help of 5 fours and 5 sixes while his partner Khushdil Shah was also played sensible inning of unbeaten 51-ball 64 runs laced with 3 fours and 3 sixes, as they helped their team achieve the required target of 373 runs in 49.1 overs with 4 wickets still in hand.

Although Balochistan couldn’t start their run-chase in a good manner as they lost the first wicket of Bismillah Khan at the total of just 11 runs yet after that, captain Ahmed Shehzad and Rizwan Hussain played sensible knocks and added significant 94 runs for the second-wicket partnership. Ahmed Shehzad remained top scorer with 72 runs off 36 balls studded with 14 fours while Rizwan Hussain contributed 71-ball 67 runs with the help of 5 fours and 1 six.

After their dismissals, Rameez Raja Junior also played superbly and added important 64 runs in the team’s total while in the end, Anwar Ali and Khushdil Shah provided perfect finishing by landing their team home safely with five balls to spare. Anwar smashed unbeaten 58 and Khushdil Shah unbeaten 64. For his outstanding batting display, Anwar Ali was named player of the match. Only Hammad Azam bowled well for KP as he took two scalps for 44 while Hasan Khan, Sadaf Hussain and Zia-ul-Haq got one wicket apiece conceding 47, 54 and 89 runs respectively.

Earlier, brilliant century by opener Khurram Manzoor helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa post a mammoth total of 372-8 on the board in the allotted 50 overs. Khurram (111) along with Test-discarded batsman Shan Masood (50) provided a solid start to KP as they added 98-run for the first-wicket partnership. Shan hammered 10 boundaries to score 45-ball fifty while Khurram then added another 105 runs for the second-wicket stand with Israrullah. Israr could score 40-ball 40 runs hitting 4 boundaries and one six. Khurram was then shown pavilion by M Nawaz, when he was playing at 111. He played 99 balls and slammed 16 fours.

Later, KP lost captain M Hafeez (32) and Umar Akmal (11) in quick succession in the middle order but then Hassan Khan played an impressive knock of unbeaten 51 runs with the help of 6 fours and 1 six to boost his team’s total. Hammad Azam also batted well and scored quick-fire 44 by hitting 4 boundaries fours and two sixes. Hassan added 52 runs for the seventh-wicket stand with M Irfan Junior, who contributed 22 runs with the help of one four.

M Nawaz was top wicket-taker as he clinched three wickets for 72 runs while veteran Umar Gul bagged 2 wickets for 67 and Sohail Tanveer, Muhammad Irfan Junior and Shaheen Shah Afridi took one wicket each conceding 48, 68 and 81 runs respectively.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa captain M Hafeez lauded the brilliant innings of Anwar Ali, who helped the team register crucial victory. He hoped that Anwar would continue to perform well in the upcoming matches, which can help him make a comeback in the national squad. Punjab will face Federal Areas challenge in today’s (Tuesday) match to be played at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad at 2:30 pm.

Scoreboard

FEDERAL AREAS:
Kamran Akmal c Adnan b Aamer Yamin 0
Awais Zia run out 9
Abid Ali c Khurram Shehzad b M Irfan 109
Sohaib Maqsood c Adnan b M Irfan 34
Hussain Talat c Adnan b Junaid Khan 5
Agha Salman c M Asghar b Bilal Asif 26
Saad Nasim c M Asghar b Bilal Asif 6
Umaid Asif c M Asghar b Junaid Khan 14
Waqas Maqsood not out 29
Usman Khan not out 1
EXTRAS: (lb 1, w 8) 9
TOTAL: (8 wkts, 50 overs) 242
FOW: 1-0, 2-26, 3-84, 4-95, 5-171, 6-179, 7-203, 8-212.
BOWLING: Aamer Yamin 10-1-36-1, M Irfan 10-2-28-2, Junaid Khan 10-0-63-2, M Asghar 10-0-60-0, Bilal Asif 10-0-54-2.
SINDH:
Salman Butt c Saad b Agha Salman 18
Umar Amin b Agha Salman 12
Iftikhar Ahmed b Raza Hasan 11
Khurram Shehzad st Abid b Agha Salman 25
Rameez Aziz c Abid Ali b Umaid Asif 3
Adnan Akmal run out 2
Aamer Yamin c sub b Raza Hasan 6
Bilal Asif c Awais b Waqas Maqsood 8
M Asghar lbw b Waqas Maqsood 2
Junaid Khan not out 1
M Irfan b Waqas Maqsood 1
EXTRAS: (b 1, lb 1, nb 1, w 1) 4
TOTAL: (all out, 31 overs) 93
FOW: 1-26, 2-33, 3-55, 4-58, 5-63, 6-74, 7-83, 8-89, 9-89, 10-93.
BOWLING: Usman Khan 5-1-24-0, Waqas Maqsood 7-2-14-3, Agha Salman 4-0-8-3, Raza Hasan 10-0-33-2, Umaid Asif 5-1-12-1.
TOSS: Sindh
UMPIRES: Ahmed Shahab, Shozab Raza
TV UMPIRE: Ahsan Raza
RESERVE UMPIRE Mohammad Sajid
MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Javed