LAHORE - Peshawar Region and Multan Region registered contrastive victories on the second day of the National Twenty20 Cup 2018-19 being played at Multan Stadium.

In the first match played on Tuesday, Peshawar Region defeated Fata Region by 2 wickets. Fata Region won the toss and elected to bat first. They posted 124-5 on the board in 20 overs. Adil Amin was top scorer for Fata team with unbeaten 44 runs off 40 balls with the help of two fours while Asif Afridi hit unbeaten 19-ball 19 runs hitting two fours and Sami-ul-Haq scored 19. Imran Khan Senior, Waqas Maqsood, Zohaib Khan, Imran Khan Junior and Sajid Khan got one wicket each.

Peshawar Region, in reply, started well and steadily chased the target in 19.5 overs losing eight wickets. Nabi Gul played sensational knock of 34 runs off 22 balls smashing two fours and two sixes while Israrullah slammed 23. Zia-ul-Haq clinched 3 wickets for 32 and Usama Mir 2 wickets for 27. Nabi Gul of Peshawar Region was declared man of the match for outstanding batting performance. Muhammad Asif and Tahir Shah officiated the match as field umpires while Zameer Haider were performing his duty as TV umpire, Iqbal Sheikh as referee, Muhammad Akbar official scorer.

The second match of the day was contested between Multan Region and Karachi Region at the same venue and Multan emerged as triumphant with 8 wickets. Karachi Region White won the toss and opted to bat first. Khurram Manzoor and Ramiz Raja were the main contributors in making Karachi Region White total respectable as Khurram hammered 62 off 44 balls studded with 7 fours and two towering sixes while Ramiz Raja played 44 balls to gather 44-ball 54 runs hitting 5 boundaries and one six, as Karachi piled up 163-7 in 20 overs. Muhammad Irfan and Muhammad Imran claimed two wickets each conceding 29 and 26 runs respectively while Bilawal Bhatti got 1 wicket 36.

Multan Region replied very strongly as their openers had impressive partnerships which helped their team achieve the required target for the loss of 2 wickets in 18.2 overs. International player Sohaib Maqsood was severe with bat as he hammered unbeaten 88 runs off 57 balls with the help of three fours and seven smashing sixes. He was ably assisted by Irfan Khan who played an impressive unbeaten knock of 67 runs off 39 balls studded with 6 boundaries and two sixes. Only Raza Hasan and Rahat Ali succeeded in getting one wicket each for Karachi Region White.

For his outstanding batting performance, Multan’s Sohaib Maqsood was adjudged as player of the match. Tahir Shah and Saqib Khan were the field umpires while Faisal Afridi was TV umpire, Shahid Butt referee and Muhammad Akbar official scorer.

SCORES IN BRIEF:

FATA REGION: 124-5 in 20 overs (Adil Amin 44*, 40 balls, 2x4s, Asif Afridi 19*, 19 balls, 2x4s, Sami-ul-Haq 19, 26 balls, 2x6s, Imran Khan Sr. 1-23, Waqas Maqsood 1-23, Zohaib Khan 1-25, Imran Khan Jr. 1-25, Sajid Khan 1-27)

PESHAWAR REGION: 125-8 in 19.5 overs (Nabi Gul 34, 22 balls, 2x4s, 2x6s, Israrullah 23, 35 balls, 1x4, Zia-ul-Haq 3-32, Usama Mir 2-27)

KARACHI REGION WHITE: 163-7 in 20 overs (Khurram Manzoor 62, 44 balls, 7x4s, 2x6s, Ramiz Raja 54, 44 balls, 5x4s, 1x6,  Muhammad Irfan 2-24, Muhammad Imran 2-29, Amir Yamin 1-26, Bilawal Bhatti 1-36)

MULTAN REGION: 167-2 in 18.2 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 88*, 57 balls, 3x4s, 7x6s, Irfan Khan 67*, 39 balls, 6x4s, 2x6s, Raza Hasan 1-17, Rahat Ali 1-28).