Sialkot Stallions off to winning start

LAHORE Former Twenty20 champions Sialkot Stallions began their National Twenty20 campaign in style by overwhelming Karachi Zebras by seven wickets in the last match of the opening day here at the Gaddafi Stadium. Led by former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, Stallions achieved the score of just 100 runs losing three wickets with 44 balls to spare. It was in fact their bowlers Abdur Rehman, Adeel Malik who took two wickets each while Sarfraz Ahmed and Naved-ul-Hasan shared one apiece to restrict Zebras at 99 runs in 20 overs in which they lost nine wickets. The Stallions bowling was quite disciplined as their opener Imran Nazir surpassed the total without any difficulty. In the earlier matches, Lahore Lions and Multan Tigers showed their supremacy in the game to move past Abbottabad Falcons and Peshawar panthers respectively. A disciplined bowling performance from Sialkot Stallions gave them an easy seven-wicket win over Karachi Zebras in Lahore. Karachi were restricted to a mere 99-run total which Sialkot knocked off without fuss, courtesy Imran Nazirs unbeaten 64. Five of the top Karachi batsmen did not reach double figures and three run outs added fuel to fire. Only opener Ali Asad crawled to 33. Leg-spinner Adeel Malik, Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Maliks younger brother, finished with two for 15. Nazir single-handedly led the chase hitting eight fours and two sixes on his way to 64 off 42 deliveries as Sialkot won with more then seven overs to spare.

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