Lahore - Ufone and Allied Bank have qualified for the Pepsi CPL Twenty20 Championship final after carving out contrasting victories in the semifinals played here.
In the enthralling first semifinal of the tournament, Ufone defeated Descon by 3 wickets. Ufone won the toss and decided to bowl first. The decision proved right as they restricted Descon team to paltry 95 runs. Only Imran Mubashar (13) and Rana Tahir (12) could cross double figures. Khayam Abbas was pick of the Ufone bowlers as he grabbed four wickets while Ahsan Zaidi and Ali Sikander took two wickets each.
Descon also bowled brilliantly and didn’t allow Ufone batsmen to play freely and at one stage, it seemed Descon would restrict their opponents well beyond the required target but outstanding partnership between Ali Sikander and Ahsan Zaidi helped Ufone land home safely and also qualify for the final. Descon captain Faheem Butt clinched crucial four wickets but his heroics couldn’t save his team from facing defeat. Ufone’s Ali Sikander and Descon’s Faheem Butt were jointly declared men of the match.
The second semifinal between Allied Bank and Meezan Bank proved to be a thriller, which ended in a draw and then was decided in super over, where Allied Bank emerged as winners by six runs. Batting first, Meezan Bank slammed 166 runs with M Ashraf hitting 38, Yousaf Iftikhar 35 and Wakeel Rizwan 22 runs. Allied Bank replied strongly but they couldn’t score one more run to register win. Rizwan Aslam hit 72 and Junaid 37. From Meezan Bank, Yaseen Cheema took two wickets.
In super over, Allied Bank smashed 11 runs and in reply, Meezan Bank could score only 5. Rizwan Aslam was named player of the match.
The grand finale of the CPL T20 Championship will be played between Ufone and Allied Bank here on December 16.