LAHORE - The last league match of Day-Night One-Day Pakistan Cup 2018 between Punjab and Sindh ended in a draw at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Friday. Now Khyber Pakhtankhwa will face high-flying Federal Areas in the final to be played tomorrow (Sunday).
Sensational century by Punjab’s Asif Ali (138) and another ton by Sindh opener Salman Butt (101) and brilliant knock of Iftikhar Ahmad (95) were the highlights of the day.
The match proved to be a thriller, as Sindh, while chasing the target of 311, required 10 runs in the last over of pacer M Imran, who bowled well and didn’t allow Sindh batman play freely. On the last ball, Sindh just needed one run to register victory but Adnan Akmal got run out by the same bowler, whose efforts helped his team tie the match.
Earlier, Asif Ali’s 138 helped Punjab post a huge total of 310-9 on the board in 50 overs. Asif slammed 7 sixes and 14 fours in his 91-ball knock. Asif added 56 runs for the fourth-wicket stand with Ashfaq Ahmed (15) and contributed 57 for the fifth-wicket stand with Sohail Akhtar who scored 22-ball 15.
Punjab's opener Sahibzada Farhan also played impressive knock of 73. He contributed 84 runs for the opening stand with Abdul Samad, who was sent packing by Taj Wali, who struck 54-ball 28 with two fours. Farhan hit 10 fours and one six in his nice 69-ball innings. Skipper M Rizwan contributed 21 runs with the help of two fours in 24 deliveries. When Rizwan departed Punjab were struggling at 123-3 in the 26th over. Asif Ali then took the responsibility and guided his side to a decent total. Bilal Asif was impressive with the ball, capturing 3-51 in 10 overs. Taj Wali got 2-83 in ten overs.
In response, Sindh rode on the heroics of former Pakistan’s captain Salman Butt (101) and Iftikhar Ahmed (95). The 33-year old Salman was trapped lbw by spinner Usama Mir after the left-hander had hit 17 fours from 91 deliveries.
After losing Gauhar Ali (5) cheaply, Salman dominated the 60 runs partnership for the second wicket with skipper Umar Amin who fell for only 14 which came off 28 balls. The left-hander smashed one four. Salman then shared 79 runs for the third wicket association with test cricketer Iftikhar Ahmed who fell for 95. After losing Salman, Iftikhar took the responsibility and shared 96 for the fourth wicket stand with Fawad Alam who hit 36-ball 38 with three fours and one six.
Iftikhar, who fell in the 44th over when he was stumped by Rizwan off the bowling of leggie Usama Mir, hammered two sixes and nine fours from 94 balls. Adnan and Bilal Asif (21*) then brought their team very close to victory but failed to clear the line when Adnan got run out off the final ball of the innings to end Sindh's inings at 310-7. Bilal hit one four in his unbeaten 20-ball knock. Usama Mir remained impressive with the ball as he claimed 4-62 in ten overs. Asif Ali was declared man of the match.
Ahsan Raza and Asif Yaqoob supervised the match.
Scoreboard
PUNJAB: Sahibzada Farhan c Danish b Bilal Asif 73 Abdul Samad c Fawad Alam b Taj Wali 28 M Rizwan c Iftikhar Ahmed b Bilal Asif 21 Asif Ali c Gauhar Ali b Bilal Asif 138 Ashfaq Ahmed b Fawad Alam 15 Sohail Akhtar c Gauhar Ali b Iftikhar Ahmed 15 M Imran (1) c Iftikhar Ahmed b M Asghar 6 M Sami run out 2 Usama Mir c Aamer Yamin b Taj Wali 0 Kashif Bhatti not out 4 Imran Khan not out 1 EXTRAS: (lb 3, nb 1, w 3) 7 TOTAL: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 310 FOW: 1-84, 2-118, 3-123, 4-179, 5-236, 6-258, 7-282, 8-305, 9-305. BOWLING: Aamer Yamin 5-0-37-0, M Asghar 10-1-25-1, Taj Wali 10-0-83-2, Bilal Asif 10-0-51-3, Fawad Alam 7-0-51-1, Danish Aziz 1-0-14-0, Iftikhar Ahmed 7-0-46-1. SINDH: Salman Butt lbw b Usama Mir 101 Gauhar Ali b Imran Khan 5 Umar Amin c & b Ashfaq Ahmed 14 Iftikhar Ahmed st M Rizwan b Usama Mir 95 Fawad Alam b Usama Mir 38 Danish Aziz c M Rizwan b Usama Mir 1 Adnan Akmal run out 19 Bilal Asif not out 21 EXTRAS: (b 4, lb 1, nb 2, w 9) 16 TOTAL: (7 wkts, 50 overs) 310 FOW: 1-21, 2-81, 3-160, 4-256, 5-264, 6-273, 7-310. BOWLING: Imran Khan 9-0-55-1, M Sami 5-0-43-0, M Imran (1) 6-0-43-0, Kashif Bhatti 10-0-43-0, Ashfaq Ahmed 10-0-59-1, Usama Mir 10-0-62-4. TOSS: Sindh UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza, Asif Yaqoob TV UMPIRE: Waleed Yaqub RESERVE UMPIRE: Khalid Mahmood MATCH REFEREE: Nadeem Arshad
